The Kid
by Agent R
Summary: Richie was only trying to help Jeremy, there was just one problem...someone was out to get him, and no one could know.
1. Default Chapter

The Kid

(To avoid any negative feedback about "inappropriate" material or content, or whatever, in a PG-13 story, I'm giving all those who might be opposed a head-on warning regarding some scenes that could be and probably are considered sexual, but not to the extent of needing a R-rating.)

A sudden noise broke the silence of the night. Amber turned on the light behind her and saw Richie in bed shaking rapidly as he screamed in his sleep. She went over to the bed and got on top of Richie's body in hope of holding him down, but her bodyweight wasn't enough to keep a hold on him, his body shook harder as he arched his back and threw her off the bed and onto the floor. The door opened and Amanda and Duncan immediately came rushing in.

"What's going on?" Duncan asked.

"I don't know," she replied.

Duncan went over to the bed and grabbed Richie's wrists and shook him to wake him up. But the pulling force against his own shaking didn't wake Richie in the least. Methos came in looking like a tornado hit him.

"What the bloody hell's going on here? I finally manage to fall asleep and I hear someone screaming and a crash," he said.

"You can thank Richie for both," Amber said.

"Move over, MacLeod," Methos said as he shoved Duncan aside, "let someone with experience handle this."

Methos jerked Richie up by his collar and slapped him hard across the face.

"Methos, what the hell-"

"Stay out of this, MacLeod, I know what I'm doing," Methos said.

Richie stopped shaking and immediately opened his eyes and looked around in a panic.

"Richie, are you okay?" Amanda asked.

Richie turned his head and looked over at them, he was quiet for a minute, but finally said, "My face hurts."

"That's to be expected," Methos said.

"What happened?" Richie asked.

"I don't know, but you give Linda Blair competition in bed," Methos said.

"What?"

"The only time I ever saw someone act like that was when one of the guys in my foreign language class did acid, the first time he did it he was on the floor in convulsions, much like what just happened. For some reason the ass was dumb enough to do it again," Amber said.

"What?" Duncan asked.

"Well now don't go thinking that that's what's going on here. I mean, this guy also had red eyes and thought he was Satan, burst up from the mighty flames of hell to take one of us back down with him. And if you look at Richie, you'll see he no more looks like a high-risk, than Methos looks like a beauty queen," Amber said.

"Well that's not saying much," Amanda laughed as she glanced at Methos.

"Funny," Methos said in a bitter tone, "Allright, MacLeod, Amanda, go back to bed, I'll take care of the kid."

"Good idea, I'll show them out," Amber said as she pushed at them, "come on you two, let Richie rest peacefully without the intrusion of you."

They went out into the hall, "What's wrong with Richie?" Amanda asked.

"Wish I knew," Duncan said.

"Well, I think it might still be the shock of knowing that he's related to Methos," Amber said, "I mean…Mac, wouldn't you act weird if you were to find out that……oh……you were related to Kronos?"

"WHAT?!"

"I'm not saying you are, I'm just saying if you were."

"If I were."

"You'd probably take your own head," Amber said.

"But what I don't understand why Methos had to hit Richie to wake him up," Amanda said.

"Well it's this psychological thing, I suppose. See Richie grew up in environments where his guardians beat the hell out of him over anything. First thing in the morning they probably came in the room and started the abuse then and there as a wakeup call. Now it's years since that's happened, but that type of memory never dies. He probably still wakes up at times thinking he's still 16 and **just** avoided the wakeup call. So when Methos hit him."

"He thought he was back with a foster parent and thought he had to get up instantly."

"Exactly, coddling someone will only go so far, but when that fails you have to bring in the strict, physical, but always negative reinforcement," Amber said.

"How do you know so much about this?" Duncan asked.

"One of Methos' many occupations believe it or not had been a psychiatrist, or psychologist, whatever, it's still a shrink. And I think I've slept with him enough times to hear his endless jabber about what all he knows. Besides, you know damn well as much as I do that when Richie was a teenager, he was a case any shrink would love to get their hands on."

"You know," Duncan said, "sometimes I think you're a lot older than you say."

"Well if I was one of those idiots who believed in reincarnation I'd probably say you have something there. But I don't and I'm not so I ain't, I'm just 17 like I said," Amber said.

"Do you think Richie will be okay tonight?" Amanda asked.

"Well let's see, Methos has practically been his nursemaid, caretaker and shrink for…little over a week now and Richie had made no attempts to kill him, yeah, I think he'll be fine. Now go onto bed, let the kid rest…my God…" Amber said as she closed their door behind them, "get less rest around here than at a coffee house."

Amber headed back to their room and closed the door and went back over to her bed and saw Methos holding Richie as if he was going to break.

"Well Doctor," Amber said as she went over to his bed, "How's the patient?"

"Honestly…" Methos said, "I think the kid is going to need a sedative before the night's over."

"Got one handy?" Amber asked.

"No."

Richie murmured something in gibberish and was shaking against Methos' grasp on him.

"Calm down, brat, calm down," Methos said soothingly with cynicism in his tone.

Amber slipped onto the bed on the other side and slowly rubbed Richie on the back, "Personally I think he's doing a lot better this time."

"Of course," Methos added.

"Richie you're getting better at this all the time. Before you know it, this will all be a thing of the past," Amber said.

Amber glanced down at Richie's body and saw that his boxers had hiked up on one side, revealing a bit more off his butt cheek than he would probably find comfortable.

"You know Richie," Amber changed the subject as she semi-reluctantly lowered her hand towards his butt, "you really oughtta consider sleeping with your jeans on."

Amber grabbed his boxers were they were hiked up, at the same time grabbing the bare part of his cheek. Richie reacted instantly and rolled over onto his back and threw her on the floor, glaring at her with evil eyes.

"Sorry Richie, but I think you really should start sleeping in your jeans. That way people won't know when your boxers are rolled up to your ass," Amber said.

Richie sighed in relief and at the same time turned pink from embarrassment. "Sorry."

"What've you to be sorry for?" Amber asked, "Look, just try and get back to sleep, by morning I'm sure this whole thing, whatever the hell it is, will have blown over."

"Yeah…good idea," Richie said.

He turned back over and fell asleep almost immediately, while still in Methos' hold.

"Well, looks like you didn't need that sedative after all," Amber said.

"Apparently not," Methos said as he slipped out from under him, "goodnight kid."

"Yeah."

Amber turned on her side and hiked the sheets up to her ear and closed her eyes as Methos made his way out of the room. When the door closed, Amber got up and scrambled over to Richie's bed and woke him up.

"What the hell was that all about?" Amber asked.

"I…I…I don't know," Richie admitted, "I think a lot of it's still shock from this whole thing."

"You mean finding out that you're a cousin to the most annoying man in the world," Amber said.

"Yeah. I mean, fuck, how would you feel if it were you in my position?" Richie asked.

"Hell," Amber said, "I'd be damn glad for it, at least I'd have a living relative."

Richie rolled over in bed and stared at the door.

"Just go to sleep, Richie, if you keep this up, you'll go crazy. Insomnia does that to people."

"You talking from experience?"

"Yeah…once I didn't sleep for three weeks, by the 22nd night, I was seeing red."

"You mean you were pissed at someone?" Richie asked.

"No, I really **was** seeing red. I couldn't think straight, and everything I saw looked like I was watching a 3D movie."

"No kidding."

"Yeah, and I was fuming, boy was I fuming, I thought I was that fruitcake Alex Hammond from "Prom Night", everyone I saw I thought I was going to kill."

"Did you?"

"No, fortunately I had a friend there who stuck me with a sedative. Slept like a baby for three days straight, nothing woke me. They had tornado sirens tested on Monday, Tuesday there was a demolition derby, Wednesday was a parade…also the day that my roommate liked to watch all of those bike races and football games on TV. I didn't move once. For a while they thought I was dead. Then come Thursday morning, I woke up. Fresh, relaxed, and I could see straight. Now, get to bed before you drive both of us crazy," Amber said.

"Fine."

Class had ended for the university, a few students had already left early, Amber was out in the parking lot waiting for Richie. She passed her time by seeing how much smoke she could inhale off of one cigarette before having to exhale it. It took a few tries before she got through a whole cigarette in one breath. Then she felt the buzz, and she felt someone slap her on the back, causing her to swallow the smoke, and cough and gag up a storm.

"Are you okay?" Richie asked.

After whooping and coughing and retching a few times, Amber turned around and said, "never do that to me again."

Richie was confused by what had happened with her, "Are you allright?"

"Yeah," she sneered, "but I think I got a damn good motivation to stop smoking."

She bent over and started retching again, Richie patted her back, and she took offense. She jumped back up and turned around and said, "Don't touch me! Richard Ryan don't you ever do that again, that's exactly what got me into this mess!"

"Okay, I'm sorry," he said, "is there anything I can do?"

"Yeah, why don't you get a bottle of vodka and container of turpentine so I can mix a drink to wash it down?" she cynically asked.

Richie rolled his eyes, "Now you're starting to sound like Methos. Come on, let's head for home."

Amber nodded and jumped into the passenger seat of Richie's car, he slipped in the other way, started the car and they headed back to the house. Amber pulled out a book from her jacket and opened it to the middle.

"So are we still on for tonight?" Richie asked.

He was driving at near 70 mph, so the wind really seemed to pick up and distract their hearing, Amber lowered her book and bellowed, "What?!"

"ARE WE STILL ON FOR TONIGHT?" Richie repeated, not taking his eyes of the road.

"OF COURSE!" she replied, "WHAT IS THERE TO STOP US?"

Richie watched as Duncan's T-bird rolled out of the driveway and headed down the street, he went upstairs to his room and saw Amber sitting at her desk.

"They just left, so now we can leave," Richie said as he threw on his jacket.

"I don't think so," Amber said.

"Why not?" Richie asked.

"I've just come down with a splitting headache. And trust me, booze, bright lights, loud music and a bar-room blitz is not going to help."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Richie said as he peeled his jacket back off.

"Well now don't go throwing your plans away on account of me, you go out, have a good time, meet a lady, just don't sleep with her, and if you do, don't use a condom. After seeing that movie, I'm not too trustworthy of them myself."

"If you're sure you don't mind being by yourself."

"Please, for the most of it I'll probably be asleep, in any case I won't be alone, I have your annoying cousin with me. Doctor, lawyer, merchant, servant, psychiatrist, Indian Chief, foreign dictator, undertaker, coroner, Death on a horse, foreign diplomat, you name it, he's got the paperwork to cover it."

"If you're sure about this."

"I am, now go," she said as she tossed Richie his helmet.

Here it was 11:54 at night, Amber had been in bed for a few hours and seemed to be resting peacefully. So peacefully she didn't even notice the Immortal presence, or the moaning and groaning coming from the siding of the house. Finally, Richie's exhausted grunt woke her up, she turned on the light to see Richie standing right by the window with a bunched up bed sheet in his arms.

"Richie," Amber yawned as she swung her feet around to the floor, "What's that?"

"Uh…uh…laundry" Richie replied.

Amber, not fully buying his story, went over to him to help him with the sheets, and as they started getting into a tug-of-war match, a high pitched scream came from the sheets.

"Richie, what is that?" Amber asked.

Richie looked the other way and said nothing in response.

"Did you bring home another alley cat again? I swear…"

Amber set the sheets on the floor and knelt down to unravel them, only to find, a small kid with reddish blonde hair, looking like a younger Richie.

"Well excuse me," Amber said to the child, "you make for a very cute kid, but you make a very ugly alley cat."

Amber looked up at Richie and stood up one knee at a time, "Richie, this better be your kid or you're in a hell of a lot of trouble."

"Amber, it's a long story and I think you better sit down before I tell you," Richie said.

Amber rested her bottom on the trunk in front of her bed, "I'm listening."

"I was on my way back here when I passed by 98th street, and…there was this raid, the cops had busted into this house, they were taking dealers in for questioning, confiscating everything, and in the middle of all this…was this kid, his parents were being taken in for drug trafficking, along with about a dozen other people, and odds were they'd take him away and put him in a foster home. And I was going to be damned if I was going to let what happened to me when I was his age, happen to him. So, when no one was looking, he'd gotten down to the curb of the street, and I just snatched him up and put him in the car, and brought him back here," Richie explained.

"For this you had me sit down?" Amber asked, "Richie, you expect me to believe they got all these cops down there, and nobody is keeping an eye on this kid?"

"I know it sounds weird, but you gotta believe me, Amber," Richie said, "otherwise I wouldn't have even brought him here. I mean I would've, but if they saw me, I couldn't have made it back here without getting arrested."

"Oh boy, Richie, if his parents get out and find out you have him, they're going to hold you for kidnapping," Amber said.

"I know, but that's a chance I have to take, Amber, in any case, what credibility could two junkies have?"

"Regardless, it is a possibility."

"Amber, I've been in orphanages and foster homes, I know what kind of shit..."

"Watch the way you talk around the kid," Amber smirked as she pointed to the kid.

"I know what goes on in those places, and I don't want him to go through that," Richie said.

"So we've determined you did this out of feeling sorry for this kid, and a determination not to have him repeat your patterns, and in doing so, you plan to be his caretaker until he can take care of himself or we find someone else?" Amber asked.

"Amber, I swear, I assume full responsibility of him, you won't have to worry about anything, you won't even know he's here," Richie said.

"Richie, that is not the point, I don't care if he's here, he can chew on my poker cards, sleep in my bed, hell, he can wear my cologne, that's not the point, the point is how are we going to keep him a secret from Mac? He is NOT going to want this kid in his house," Amber said.

"Damn it, Mac, I haven't thought of that," Richie said.

"Don't worry, I'll go talk to Methos, he's a part of the family now…we'll figure out a way to keep Mac from finding out about him, but don't worry Richie, I got your back on this, everything's A-okay," Amber said as she headed out of their bedroom.

The second she shut the door and headed over to Methos' room, her enthusiasm wore off and she went into a tone of panic, "First we find out these dumb clucks are related, now Richie's bringing home strange kids, maybe next we'll go to Central Europe and eat rats and drink people's blood, and take refuge in a theatre of vampires posing as humans posing as vampires…great, just great."

Amber pounded on Methos' door a few times before he finally opened it.

"What is it, kid?" he asked.

"Methos, can you keep a secret?"

"Kid, keeping secrets is my life," Methos said.

"Well now I need you to keep your life from Duncan," Amber said.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Come on," Amber jerked on Methos' arm until he followed her into the bedroom.

They both stopped at the sight of Richie on the bed, cradling the child in his arms.

"Well Richie, do you know who the mother is?" Methos laughed.

"It's not funny, Methos, this is serious," Richie said.

"You're telling me, I thought only Caspian smelt of rotting flesh and stole babies, but then you come along, and prove me wrong after all these centuries," Methos said, "Richie, what is that kid doing here?"

"Long story short, he's got nowhere to go, and Richie doesn't want it to become another case of his life story," Amber said.

"Oh wonderful…" Methos sighed, "Do tell Richie, how old is he? Two? Three?"

"Five."

"Five?" Amber spat, "You gotta be kidding me, that kid? Five years old? No way, not possible, I've seen small kids, but this…this is impossible, he can't be five."

"He can't even talk yet, Amber," Richie told her.

"Are you sure?"

"Well, for the most of it anyway, he knows a few words, and he can scream, but for the most of it he doesn't talk…at least not yet," Richie said.

"Richie, I just don't know what we're going to do. How are we going to keep this kid a secret from Duncan, AND Amanda, AND Joe? We can't take him to the college with us, and we can't stay home every day," Amber said.

"Why not?" Methos asked.

"What?"

"Why can't you take turns staying home from the university? Or better, call in sick…a few students have come down with some bloody illness, some haven't been able to return in three weeks," Methos explained.

"What do you think?" Richie asked Amber.

"I think this is some big sign, like a way of saying, "Welcome to Parenthood", we're getting the responsibilities right up front…not like a bunch of dumb people our ages do…them, they think they got 9 months to figure it out. Us, we have to decide here and now, do we keep the kid, or not?"

"I say we keep Jeremy as long as we can, he needs someone to look after him," Richie said.

"Yeah, and we…Jeremy? The kid's name is Jeremy?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you say so? Here you've had me going around all this time calling him 'the kid'," Amber said, "well anyway, I guess this is God's way of placing Jeremy in the right hands…we gotta take him in, there's no other choice."

"But what about Mac? The University of Tampa may understand us being sick for three weeks, but Mac won't," Richie said.

"Don't worry about that, you just leave everything to me," Amber said, "I'll fix his covered wagon…one way or another…"

"Well, you two just getting in?" Joe asked the next morning.

"Oh shut up Joe, we've had an unpleasant night and we don't need any enthusiasm from you," Amanda said.

"What happened?" Joe asked.

"Well, first we went to dinner and that was awful, snails stuck on a Jell-o mold, live oysters in the soup, and fish eggs in the water and trust me, they weren't caviar," Amanda said.

"After that we thought we'd go down to the theatre."

"And that wasn't enjoyable?" Joe asked.

"Not a chance in hell," Amanda said, "they brought out mimes, and they…" she laughed, "they're just like the mimes from theatre a long time ago…they went around the stage doing these crazy acts involving real sex and violence among other things."

"No kidding…that wasn't enjoyable to you?" Joe asked.

"After that, we got a flat tire and had to walk three miles to a gas station," Amanda said.

"So?"

"Have you ever tried walking three miles in a tight dress and four-inch heels?" Amanda asked.

"After that, it started to rain so we were glad when we could get out of there," Duncan said, "But was that the end to a miserable evening? Nooooooooo, over on 98th street the entire street was blocked off with police cars. I don't know what the hell they were doing but it was impossible to get back here…they had squad cars and ambulances and reporters everywhere for the next five blocks."

"So we ended up staying in a cheap motel until morning when all the commotion had died down," Amanda said.

"And that's when we came back here," Duncan said, "did anything interesting happen while we were gone?"

"Nothing, I've seen cemeteries that are livelier than this house," Joe said.

After a night of keeping Jeremy quiet, Richie, Methos and Amber had worn themselves out, now it was morning, Richie and Amber was passed out on the bed, and Methos on the floor with Jeremy in his arms. Richie grabbed Amber's wrist and jerked it in his sleep.

"Hey!" she said as she came to.

"Wha…what is it?" Richie asked.

Richie looked over and saw Methos on the floor with the kid and got out of bed. Amber turned around and reality set in.

"Oh! I forgot I'm one third a parent now," she said, "Methos!"

Methos groaned in his sleep as Richie went over to him and slapped him, "What is it, brat?"

Richie unfolded Methos' arms and picked up Jeremy, "Give me the kid."

"Do you even remember what time we went to sleep?" Amber asked.

"We never really went to sleep, we just passed out," Methos replied.

"Well, I'm going to get breakfast, any idea what we feed the kid?" Amber asked.

"Yeah, soft stuff, no bones, no potato chips…what'd you eat when you were his age?" Richie asked.

"Paper."

"Here," Richie said as he passed Jeremy to Amber, "You take the kid, I'll get the eats."

"Fine."

Richie headed out the door and down the stairs to find Duncan, Amanda and Joe already up and around.

"Morning Mac…" Richie noticed Duncan's white silk shirt and formal pants, "new pajamas?"

"Very funny Richie…what went on while we were out?"

Richie felt his heart skip a beat, "What?"

"From what Joe tells us, it was boring as hell last night, what happened?" Amanda asked.

"Nothing really," Richie said, "Amber had a headache so she went right to bed, and me…it was so-so."

"What about Methos?"

"Methos is a lush, what else do you want to know about him?" Richie asked.

"So nothing happened last night?" Duncan asked.

"Nope, it was all pretty much just one boring evening."

"So this is what it's like to be a parent," Amber said.

"Yes, it's something you start to miss," Methos said.

"You were a parent?"

"In a way."

"How?"

"Well I used to be a doctor, part of the job included deliveries…also cervical breaches…so…"

"They asked you to take care of the kid."

"Some…just the ones who didn't know anyone else…normally a sister of the mother would step in…"

"How long did the ones you took care of live?" Amber asked.

"Most were lucky to see 20…30 at best…a couple died before adolescence…it was a different time, a different plague, all the same with no cure…No matter, their suffering is over."

"It would seem that way."

Richie came back through the bedroom door carrying a bunch of bananas, a loaf of bread, three apples, a jar of peanut butter, a thermos of coffee, a box of cereal, and a large bottle of orange juice.

"You on a health kick or something, Richie?" Amber asked.

"Very funny," he said as he laid it all down on the bed, "give me the kid."

"You know Richie," Amber said as she handed Jeremy to him, "I'm proud of you, not a lot of guys do what you did."

"Well that's cuz not a lot of guys went through the same stuff that I did."

"I'll say…most guys in your position would be dead by now," Amber said.

"Of course, part of his position involved being shot," Methos said.

"Would you mind?" Richie asked.

"What?"

"I don't like the idea of Jeremy hearing about all this stuff, if you know what I mean."

"Oh please, he's quiet as they come, who's he going to tell?" Amber asked.

"He could remember what we say," Richie said.

"What could? He **will** remember what we say," Amber said.

"Then why even say anything about it?" Richie asked.

"Please, unless he one day runs into the Watchers, he's never going to know what's going on. And providing he doesn't see any of us get injured, we've got nothing to worry about," Amber said.

"As far as we know," Methos said.

"Besides, if anything of the sort does happen, it probably won't happen for a good many years, so just give it a rest," Amber said.

Two hours later, Joe saw Methos come down the stairs in his bathrobe with his hair messed up like he'd been tossing and turning all night.

"Well, look who just got up," he laughed, "Have a nice sleep?"

"Hardly," Methos groaned, "what a night, I'm never mixing radish juice with beer again."

"Methos, you look like a train wreck," Amanda said.

"I feel like it."

"What happened?" Duncan asked.

"A few **_baaaaaaadly_** mixed drinks," he replied.

"Sorry to hear that," Amanda said, "but it still sounds like you had a better night than we did."

"Pray tell, what happened?" Methos asked.

As Duncan and Amanda went into the horror story of their date, Richie and Amber slipped down the front stairs and out the door with Jeremy. They'd be gone and back without any trouble. It was Saturday so they didn't really have any mandatory place to go.

"You know something, Richie," Amber said as they slipped into his car.

"What?"

"I think we're cut out for this parent stuff."

"Really?"

"Well what's it matter? Come ten years the kid will either be living with someone else, or still be living with us and hate our guts. For the time being I think we're doing a great job."

"We'll see about that," Richie said as he slipped into the driver's seat and stuck the key in the ignition.

The car started and they drove out of there to pick up some things for the kid.


	2. Chapter 2

"So the kid's name's Jeremy, he's five years old, and his family didn't care about him, is that it?" Amber asked.

"I don't know if that's the case, but it would seem that way considering they're both junkies…you should've seen him before I brought him home, he was a complete mess."

"Neglected kids of addicts usually are," Amber replied.

"So where do we go first?" Richie asked.

"Well we can't very well keep him in the same clothes every day. And since he's going to be living with us, he's going to need some things as well."

"I should just hope nobody finds out," Richie said.

"Who's gonna know? As long as Methos keeps his mouth shut, and you stop going into convulsions while you sleep, we don't have to worry about anybody finding out," Amber told him. "Besides, you said yourself in the midst of all that chaos, no one even noticed you taking him."

"That's just to my knowledge," Richie responded, "Someone could've seen me after I left."

"If they had they would've tailed you back to the house and booked you on felony charges," Amber said, "now let's get going."

Richie stepped on the gas and they were pushing 50 mph.

"What're you going to say if people see him with you?" Richie asked.

"What?!" Amber asked.

"You gonna start that again?" Richie asked, "What're you gonna say?"

"Don't worry, I'll just tell them I'm watching him for somebody."

"Yeah, but if you do that, sooner or later Mac's gonna find out," Richie said.

"If he does, odds are by that time Jeremy will already be in someone else's care," Amber said.

"Yeah, but whose?" Richie asked, "We can't put him in foster care and I sure as hell am NOT taking him to the police station."

"Well why should you? He doesn't need to go to jail, he didn't do anything," Amber said, "besides, that's where his parents are."

"Are you sure he's not going to resent us for this one day?" Richie asked.

"Resent us for what? Helping him when no one else would?" Amber asked, "Richie, the law doesn't cover anything about Good Samaritan except you can get arrested for being one. The law is screwed, that's why nobody abides by it. Even the law doesn't abide by the law. We can't let the law, or the morals of society get in our plans, we have to help this kid, otherwise he could end up in serious trouble one day."

"I know that, I just don't know how we're going to pull this off," Richie said.

"You worry too much, Richie."

"I can't help it."

"You never used to worry, what happened to you?"

"Gee, I don't know Amber, I guess dying might've changed me a bit," Richie sarcastically said.

"I thought you said you didn't want to talk about that in front of the kid," Amber said.

"I don't!" Richie said.

"Well then shut up…what's wrong with you? When did you get to be such a prude?"

"My guess would be sometime around parenthood," Richie said.

"Fine time to be such a mother, Richie," Amber said.

"Me?"

"That's right, you. It's a good thing Jeremy's not an infant, judging by the size of your chest, you'd be more likely to be capable of nursing him," Amber said, "Now shut up and drive."

"I don't believe this," Amanda groaned as she walked out of Richie's bedroom with a bunch of bed sheets bunched up in her arms.

"What is it?" Duncan asked.

"I asked Richie if his sheets needed to be washed this week," Amanda said, "eight times I asked him, every time he said they were fine, these things are muddy as a pig sty. What is it with him? Did he go out mud wrestling last night?"

"Hard to say, you might have to ask him when he gets back," Duncan laughed.

"Who?" Methos asked.

"What?" Duncan asked.

"When who gets back?" Methos asked.

"Richie."

"Why?" Methos asked.

"Amanda's pissed off at him because his sheets are a mess after he insisted they were clean," Duncan said.

"Oh…well as the cliché goes…" Methos said.

"Boys will be boys?" Amanda grunted.

"No."

"You don't know what you have until it's gone?" Duncan asked.

"No."

"Then what?" Duncan and Amanda asked.

"Parents complain that their children eat like pigs. Now that's not nice to say about the children, they don't eat like pigs, they just look like pigs…and often they act like them too," Methos said.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Amanda asked.

"Don't blame the kid for doing what's natural."

"That being?"

"Two things, lying and ending up filthier than a pig. That's what everyone does."

"He's got a point," Duncan said.

"And I have the perfect place for him to stick it," Amanda said.

Methos smirked, he didn't mind getting on Amanda's crappy side this morning, as long as the threat of Jeremy being found out didn't surface.

"You know what, Richie," Amber said, "I am so glad that you are NOT like Mac in a lot of ways."

"Same with you and Amanda," Richie said, "but I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Exactly how are we going to make sure they don't find out about Jeremy staying with us?" Richie asked.

"We'll keep him in our room and sneak him out when we go out," Amber said.

"What about when he gets dirty?" Richie asked.

"We'll give him a bath."

"When his clothes get dirty?"

"We'll wash them in the sink and have them drip dry in the bathroom."

"If he runs away."

"He's not going to, we're going to be watching him, all three of us."

"If he gets sick."

"We have a family doctor, Methos."

"What if he throws up?"

"Then you clean it up, and you've already dropped him so you know he won't break, now does that answer your questions?"

"How about if his parents get out, find out it was me who snatched him up and the cops come to the house to bust me?" Richie asked.

"Well then we'll take them to court. These days the favor does NOT work in that of a biological parent, it's in whoever appears interested in taking care of him. Besides, they're junkies, you said so yourself."

"I said they were taken in for drug trafficking."

"Same thing, they all know junkies and narks, no judge is going to believe them," Amber replied, "drug money can only pay out so many people."

"Yeah, but what if these people are different?" Richie asked, "What if they've got connections to some…real notorious figures?"

"Notorious? Give me a break, this is Tampa, Florida in the year 2000, not Chicago Illinois, 1929. If anyone out here is notorious, it's us."

"You really believe that?"

"Sure, in any case, I wouldn't worry. Do you have any idea how many kids get taken away from their biological parents, even if they haven't done anything wrong? We got this in the bag."

Richie slammed on the brake and the tires screeched as the car made a partial turn and they stopped. Amber was thankful she'd kept a tight hold on Jeremy otherwise he could've gone right through the windshield.

"What? What is it?" Amber asked, frantically.

Richie looked straight ahead, and lowered his head on the dashboard, "I just had a horrible thought…" he lowered his voice, "what if in some weird way, all this took a sudden twist and something happened?"

"Like what?" Amber asked.

"What if his parents find out what's happened and they set someone out to kill us? What then?" Richie asked.

"No problem, providing they keep it short and simple, we got nothing to worry about, we'll revive."

Richie looked over at Jeremy, who was now asleep in Amber's arms, "But what about Jeremy?"

"They wouldn't want their own kid dead, otherwise they would've done it by now," Amber said.

"That's not what I mean!" Richie exclaimed.

Jeremy writhed in Amber's arms and started crying at the top of his lungs. Richie lowered his head again and silently cursed himself. Amber held Jeremy close and stroked his head and murmured something soothing, before adding in her regular tone, "Don't worry, Jeremy, your daddy's just being a run-of-the mill, arrogant, absent minded, empty-headed, ignorant, idiotic, towheaded, moronic boob."

"Thank you, dear," Richie huffed.

"So what were you saying?" Amber asked.

"I mean, if something happens to us, and Jeremy's with us, and he sees us when we come back to life…what's going to happen? What's going to go through his mind?" Richie asked, "Amber, I think I made a serious mistake when I brought him home last night."

"Cut the crap," Amber said.

"Ah!" Richie said, "What did you say about watching our language around the kid?"

"Oh for crying out loud, crap isn't listed in your "French", my mother used it all the time, I never thought anything of it. In any case, you did not make a mistake when you brought him home. You went with a half-baked idea, and that's not all that bad, it's great…if you hadn't done that, they would've put him in an orphanage, or a foster home, or they would've put him with his parents, or put him in the hospital, that wouldn't have been good," Amber said, "Because you brought him back with you, he has a home, he has people who care about him, and we're not going to give him up without a damn good fight."

"Amber."

"Richie, would you agree that if Jeremy's going to be living with us, it might be good if he learned about the finer things and people in culture?"

"I suppose, what's that got to do with anything?"

"People say Mark Twain's work is classic, he said "when angry, count to four, when very angry, swear." Well in Jeremy's case, I've passed the part of which I don't even count, now look, if Jeremy's going to be living with us, he's going to learn the rules and be brought up in the same aspect that we were."

"Ahem."

"Oh yeah, without the substitution for a punching bag period of our lives."

"You really think we can pull this off?" Richie asked.

"I don't see why not, " Amber said, "we practically raised ourselves, and others after us, I think we could raise a kid between the three of us."

"But what do we do about him?" Richie asked.

"What do you mean?" Amber asked.

"I mean, he barely talks now, and if that doesn't see any improvement…" Richie said.

"Richie, have you heard the theory that if a child doesn't learn to speak before adolescence they never will?"

Richie shrugged his shoulders, "I suppose…yes."

"Well that theory was proven wrong in 1970, they did it before, we can do it again if we need to," Amber said.

"Yeah, but how are we going to make sure that Mac and Amanda don't find him out?" Richie asked.

"I say we wait a while and see what happens. Now isn't the time for thinking clearly, Richie, now is a time for drastic measures, and doing whatever comes to mind. It's the only way Jeremy's going to be safe with us."

There was a sudden knock on Richie's window, and they panicked. Their hearts rose to their throats when they saw it was an officer. Amber held Jeremy close and Richie rolled down the window, "Is there a problem officer?"

"Are you allright?" he asked, "looked like you were having problems when you came down this way."

They both sighed in relief, "Oh yes, yes officer," Richie said, "we're fine…I just…I'm having a little trouble and think I better get on over to a mechanics before we kill ourselves," he nervously laughed.

"Do you need to call a tow truck?" the officer asked.

"No!" they said in unison.

The officer looked at them vexed.

"Uh, no officer," Richie said, "I got a friend who works at a garage, he'll be glad to help us."

"Well if you're sure…"

"We're sure," Amber said as she repositioned her hand on the back of Jeremy's head.

The officer peered in over to her side, "Wait a minute," he said. He went around the car and looked in through her window.

"Is there a problem?" Amber asked, her heart in her throat.

"Is that your boy?" he asked.

Amber looked over at Richie, "Yeah, can't do nothing useful with him though."

The officer chuckled, "I meant the kid."

"Like I said," Amber said as she looked at Richie again, "I can't do nothing useful with him."

"Him," the officer pointed to Jeremy.

Amber swallowed hard and said, "Yes."

The officer stared at Jeremy for a minute, "He sure is a cutie."

"We like to think so," Amber sighed in relief.

"Whose side of the family did he get his looks from?"

"His," Amber said as she pointed to Richie.

"His?" the officer repeated.

"Yeah, you wouldn't know it now, but he used to have a curled, ratted mass of red hair," Amber said.

"What happened?" the officer asked.

Amber thought for a minute, "Hormones."

The officer laughed, "Well I guess I better let you two get on your way."

"Guess so. Thank you officer," Amber said.

Richie started the car and they drove off.

"Well that was fun," Amber said in an emotionless tone.

"That…was scary," Richie replied.

"I know," Amber added, "apparently Jeremy's not such a big part in his parents' lives as we thought."

"That reminds me," Richie said.

"What?"

"Well for one thing, I'm not too hot on this whole him thinking I'm his father ordeal," Richie said.

"It doesn't matter now, Richie, we basically are his parents. So what if we didn't bring him into this world? We're the ones looking out for him."

"I guess so."

"I guess they won't be back early," Methos said.

"What's it matter?" Joe asked, "Does Mac need them for something?"

"No, and in any case, it's not for his sake that I'm concerned."

"What's wrong?" Joe asked.

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"Look Joe, it's none of your concern, allright?" Methos asked.

"Fine, you don't want to tell me you don't need to tell me," Joe said.

"Allright, then I won't," Methos said.

"Good."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Good!" Methos shrieked.

"What's going on, Methos?" Duncan asked as he entered the room.

"Nothing," Methos replied.

Methos walked past Duncan and headed up to his room. He closed the door and headed over to his bed, and pulled out a box from underneath. He opened the lid and took out some old articles from newspapers and magazines:

Chicago's "Thriller Killers" take life of 14-year-old, May 1924.

**John Wayne Gacy, the Killer Clown, responsible for deaths of over 30 young men.**

**Four more young men became victims for Jeffery Dahmer after police laughed off 13th victim's case.**

**A 3-year-old boy was brutally murdered by the father and his girlfriend, who argued over cleaning up the evidence when the EMT arrived.**

**November 1970, a wild child "Genie" makes headlines as the worst case of child abuse ever acknowledged.**

**The abduction of a 3-year-old boy in Britain was caught on tape, but nothing and no one at the time seemed to intervene with the two 10-year-old kidnappers who brutally murdered the boy after hours of abuse.**

All of these articles and clippings were stored in with others from years gone by. Kidnapped and missing children from the early to mid 1900s, all children that people knew, and Methos knew where every one of them had gone.

Amanda opened the door and walked into the room, "What're you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"Mind if I take a look at that "nothing"?" Amanda asked.

"Be my guest," Methos said, not taking his eyes off the papers.

Amanda made her way over to the bed, "What is all this?"

"Evidence," Methos said.

"Of what?"

"Not much, people didn't give a damn then and they don't now…it's just more of a reminder."

"Reminder of what?"

"Why I trust the kids that're staying here. Look at this, all these people, before they were found out, everyone thought they were regular, normal, great people to know. Seemed trustworthy at the time, now most of them are either dead, in jail, or back on the streets, free to kill again. Richie and Amber however, no one in this society would trust, and yet, I think they're more trustworthy than anyone in here," he said.

"I see."

"Look at them, Amanda, all these people who no one thought for a minute were crazy, suspicious, or abnormal, murdered children in cold blood. I'm really contradicting myself, I know that but…what I did when I was in the Horsemen, compared to today's methods, there's just no compatibility to it, at least, none that I can see. Then we killed to stay alive, these days there should be no worry about staying alive, and yet everyone chooses to kill, with no rime or reason."

"If you weren't trying to survive from them, you were trying to survive from Kronos, so either way you didn't have much choice."

"Yes, but we're not as desperate these days as we were, these days we have more knowledge, more medicine, more value, more of everything and yet, people still find reasons to kill…And at the same time, it doesn't make any sense, killing someone out of self defense, I can understand that, I was that. But killing someone who hasn't done anything or would never do anything, especially when there's nothing at stake, I don't get it."

"That's because you're a clear-thinking level-headed emotionally stable person," Amanda said.

"Yeah, I guess something good's come from living as long as I have."

"But why're you taking all this into consideration now? Has something happened?" Amanda asked.

"I just keep thinking, all of this is still sudden, Richie and I being related, makes us all a very self-binding family. And I wonder…if we weren't Immortal, where would we be?"

"Dead."

"You know what I mean…I think Richie would've made a great father, Amber thinks I would've either been a lousy one or a damn good one…and MacLeod…"

"MacLeod's already been a good one several times, it just never lasted…" Amanda said.

"It takes 5,000 years to realize a lot, and I hate to think of everyone else who hasn't and won't get that opportunity," Methos said.

"I'm just saying, we have the opportunity to do this, so let's go with it," Amber said.

"It's not that easy, Amber, there's a lot of things to take into consideration," Richie told her.

"Yeah and most of them we can't discuss in public, so move it," Amber said as she lightly shoved Richie.

"Oh my God."

"What? What is it now?" Amber asked.

"He's gone!"

"WHAT!?"

Amber turned and saw that Jeremy had disappeared somewhere in the mall.

"Oh God, it's true what they say, turn your back for a minute and…well where could he be? We didn't take our eyes off him for that long, he couldn't have gotten far," Amber said.

"Unless someone got to him," Richie said.

Richie and Amber heard several kids groaning and screaming over by the escalator and they ran over and saw a bunch of kids looking between four and eight on the ground, pummeling each other. They ran over to the group and Amber picked them off of each other one kid at a time, with them screaming and kicking and trying to bite her the entire time.

"Here ya go kid, watch your step, walk this way," she said as she put one down and picked up another one, "get away from me kid, you bother me…what's the matter with you? Didn't your mother teach you any manners? If she don't, by golly I will," she said, fronting a Jersey accent, "don't push now, one at a time, move it, move it, move it."

She finally got to the last one and picked a seven-year-old off of Jeremy, who was lying on the floor in a fetal ball, crying and writhing with bruises and scratches on him.

"Oh my God," Amber said as she knelt down and picked him up, "Come on, Jeremy."

"Wait, where're you going?" Richie asked.

"I'm taking him into the restroom to wash up," Amber said, "you see if you can find the mothers of those demons."

"Amber, wait a minute, you can't take him with you!" Richie said as he snagged her by the back of her shirt.

"And why not?" Amber asked.

"Well they're not going to allow you into the men's room and you can't take him into the ladies room. Give him to me, I'll get him cleaned up, make sure he's not seriously hurt…"

"Forget it, Richie, kids need a mother's touch in these situations, and I'm a facsimile of the closest thing. Besides, mothers take their sons into the ladies' room all the time, now you stay here and don't let those future miscreants get off scot-free."

Amber carried Jeremy into the restroom and sat him down on the counter beside the sink as he continued bawling.

"I know, Jeremy, believe me, I know," Amber said as she dampened a paper towel, "it hurts, that's for sure, but not as much as those other kids will when I tell their mothers what happened. Nobody messes with my child and gets away with it." Amber held Jeremy's face in one hand as she gingerly washed the scratch on his face. "In all my years, I've never let anyone walk on a member of this family and I ain't about to start now. But I swear, no one would've treated you like that back in my day. Back when I was your age, some kid did something stupid like that, you tie them up by the ankles and use them as a tetherball."

Jeremy let out a noise that was more of a squeal than a laugh, but Amber figured she got him to relax a bit anyway.

"I'll take it you like tetherball…I never liked it myself…but who knows? We may have an athlete in the family," Amber laughed as she continued to wash Jeremy's scratches, "I take that back, we already have an athlete in the family. I do believe you remember him, that Welsh bobble head with the hooknose who you wound up sleeping with last night. Trust me, Jeremy, he doesn't look like much…okay he doesn't look like anything, but he's pretty athletic when he has to be."

Amber saw she'd covered every scratch visible on Jeremy.

"Well that's better, now we're going to go back and I am personally going to find the mothers of those sorry children, and…"

"Amber Jenzon!"

Amber turned around and saw Shelly standing behind her.

"Hey Shelly, what's happening?" she asked.

"Well Richie told me there was a brawl with a bunch of kids, but…" Shelly walked over to the sink and got a look at Jeremy, "Oh how cute," she said, "is he yours?"

"Uh…" Amber thought, "Okay."

"You mean he's not?" Shelly asked.

"Well, you see…I'm watching him for somebody," Amber said.

"Who?"

"One of Adam's friends, don't ask…I just agreed to watch him for a while…he's sort of like family though…"

Shelly picked Jeremy up off the counter and rocked him gently, "Hello little boy, say hello to your aunt Shelly."

"Yeah so far he's been introduced to his cousin Adam, his keeper, Richie, and his substitute m'ummy, me. A few crazy bugs in the family shouldn't bother him."

"He's so sweet, Amber."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Amber grunted, "if he gets any sweeter, he'll give us cavities, what's your point?"

"Does he have a name?" Shelly asked.

"Jeremy."

"Oh, he is just so cute, he looks like Richie," Shelly said, "are you sure there isn't a connection?"

"Could be, we don't know, give me back the kid," Amber said as she took Jeremy from Shelly.

"How old is he?"

"Five."

"Five?" Shelly repeated as her eyes went wide.

"This is a surprise to you?" Amber asked, "you told me you were 65 pounds when you were 12, why should this be a surprise?"

"It's just…he's so small," Shelly said.

"Yeah well we think he may have been a premature baby," Amber said, "now if you'll excuse me I have a roommate waiting outside, and half a dozen juveniles to punish…come on."

They left the restroom and saw several women yelling at each other, while their children stood across from them. Amber and Shelly went over to Richie, who was in between them.

"What's going on?" Amber asked.

"The mothers are fighting with each other because their kids were beating up each other," he said.

"Oh for the love of…" Amber said, "leave this to me…here, take the kid."

Richie took Jeremy from Amber as she went over to the ladies, "Ladies, ladies, please!"

"WHAT IS IT?" they asked in unison.

"First of all," Amber said, "who here is related to that…" Amber pointed to a boy a little taller than Jeremy, who looked about eight, with blonde, dirty hair, wearing a baseball shirt and jeans.

"That's my boy, Russell," a tall blonde woman in a red dress replied.

"Okay, well your Russell was pummeling my poor baby, and I'm not talking about a simple 'boys will be boys' rumble, it got to the point he was black and blue and had bleeding scratches all over him. I just NOW got him cleaned up and will have to take him to the doctor after this to make sure that there's no other damage."

"What? That's impossible, my little Russell is a perfect little angel."

"When he's with you, kids are all the same, when you're around, they're "little angels", but you turn your back, and they're Damien Thorn to all of society…now this boy I've seen here before pulling all sorts of stunts, spitting, cursing and beating on little girls. Either he takes after his father, or that's his general idea of what he can do. And if you're not going to take my word for it, you can ask any of the cashiers, janitors, or customers because he is VERY popular here for that reason."

"What!?" the mother's squawk wasn't that much in defense or disbelief as it was in shock, "That does it, Russell, we're going home right now and I'm washing your mouth out with soap….Ohhhhhhhhhhh," she grunted, "just wait till your father hears about this."

The lady took the boy's hand and they walked out of the store. Slowly, the other mothers went pretty much the same way with their boys after a list of their true actions was revealed.

"Wow," Shelly grinned, "you're good."

"I used to live with a nark, I have experience."

"Yeah, you got that mother attitude in you," Richie laughed.

"You ready to go?" Amber asked.

"And how."

"Allright, Jeremy, say goodbye to 'Aunt' Shelly'," Amber said.

As they turned and left, Jeremy looked over Amber's shoulder and waved at Shelly.

"Goodbye you three," she laughed.

"Does he really need to go to the doctor?" Richie asked.

"No, trust me, I put so much anti-bacterial crap on him, it oughtta be coming out of his ears. He'll be fine."

"So, do we head for home and hope we don't get caught or is there somewhere else we have to go?" Richie asked.

"The library."

"Why?"

"Because, if Jeremy's going to be staying in our room the majority of the time, we better do something constructive, he's living with us now, we're the ones that have to teach him everything, I suggest we start with talking though."

"How?"

"Well, when I was a kid, my parents had me go all around the house and name everything…we also did that once when we were heading downtown and there was a problem."

"What?" Richie asked.

"We passed by this tall lady in a fancy dress in high heels with a fancy purse and a really tacky tan and bad wig and I ran in front of her and then I looked up her garment and then I jerked up the bottom of it and said "underpants"."

Richie laughed, "What happened?"

"She beat my father over the head with her purse," Amber said.

"I think we better try something else," Richie said.

"Yeah, we have plenty of stuff in our bedroom to start with."

"How do you know those mothers we saw today aren't going to call Mac and tell him what happened?" Richie asked.

"Please, those women don't know Duncan, if they did, Amanda would be clawing their eyes out. And besides from them, Shelly's the only one that knows anything about him being with us, and she doesn't know the real reason either, so we've got nothing to worry about."


	3. Chapter 3

Richie didn't have time to react as he saw a jeep come their way, and they narrowly missed hitting each other as it went the other way and then stopped.

"What was that?" Amber asked.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Richie said.

Richie stopped the car, got out, went over to the jeep, opened it, only to find…

"Methos!" Amber said, "What're you doing here?"

"Thought you might need some help, they're waiting for you back at the house," Methos said.

"What!?" they asked.

"Why?" Amber asked.

"That's the part I can't tell you. Give me the kid and you go on ahead, and I'll be right behind you."

"Sounds stupid but we'll do it," Amber passed Jeremy to Methos.

"Allright now go," Methos said, "I'll take care of the kid for now."

Richie and Amber headed back to their car, started it up and headed for home. Methos and Jeremy watched them take off, Methos looked down at Jeremy and saw him pouting, "Don't worry, kid," he said, "your parents aren't always this wired."

Richie slammed on the brake when they hit the driveway, they jumped out of the car, and dashed into the house.

"Mac, what's going on?" Richie asked.

"The dean called, he says that the university needs to be fumigated on Monday, and since it's a large building, it'll take some time to finish, so don't expect to be in a rush come day after tomorrow."

"For that we rushed back here?" Amber asked.

"Wait, why's this guy calling when nobody's there?" Richie asked.

"Because he forgot to mention it yesterday."

"That's all?" Amber asked.

"That's all," Amanda said, "although I want to have a word with you Richie. I went in your room today your sheets were covered in mud after you told me they didn't need to be washed this week."

"Just the one," Amber murmured.

"What?" Amanda asked.

"Nothing."

Amber headed back to the hall muttering, "Scary lady."

Methos came through the front door and headed up towards his room, Amber followed to see what he'd done with Jeremy. Once they were in his room, he shut the door, opened his trench coat and Amber saw Jeremy with his arms around Methos' ribs.

"Believe me," Methos said as he peeled Jeremy's fingers out of his skin, "getting in here like this was no day at the beach."

"Methos, thank you for bringing him back."

"Don't mention it…ever."

"I know, when we got back here, we thought for sure our asses were in the fire…Methos, I know I said that we would take care of him, but I'm starting to wonder how much longer we'll be able to keep him a secret from the others."

"Well if we're lucky, we may not have to wait too long," Methos said.

"What're you talking about?" Amber asked.

"Well, I have a friend who works at the gynecologist's."

"Oh God," Amber said, "please, not in front of the kid…"

"As it turns out," Methos continued, "there are a lot of women down there, including some near your age, who can't have kids but desperately want them."

"So that's it?" Amber asked, "We're just going to take him down there and let them fight over him, is that it?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of you get introduced to them, get acquainted with them, interview them and see if you find any of them capable of caring for Jeremy."

"There's just one problem," Amber said.

"What's that?"

"What goes on in a home is behind closed doors for the most of it, he could get beaten till he can't walk and no one would ever know."

"At least give it a try and see what happens. If you don't find any of them worthy of having him in their care, then you don't have to decide."

"Allright, but I don't want any of the choices being those from crazy, psychopathic families. I don't want any parental patterns repeating themselves."

"Deal, that should help too, that'll cut the list in half."

They heard Richie come up the stairs and go into the room across the hall, "Amber?"

"What is it?"

Richie opened the door and came in, "Is everything okay?"

"I suppose it's as best as could be."

Richie reached in the cupboard and took out a can of shaving cream, and a sharpened razor, and set that on the counter. He lathered up his face and looked at himself in the mirror.

"I hate shaving every month," he told himself.

Richie looked over at the other end of the counter and saw Jeremy sitting by the edge with the razor in his hand.

"Whoa! Give me that, give me that," Richie said as he pried the razor out of his hand, "boy, there really is a lot you don't know about…not to worry though, you're with us now, we'll see that you get everything you need."

"Not for long," he vaguely heard.

Richie looked back at Jeremy, "Did you say something?"

The bathroom door opened and Amber stepped in with some folded bath towels in hand, "No, I was."

"What were you saying?"

"I said not for long, he might be leaving soon."

"How come?" Richie asked.

"Methos knows some women who are looking for a child they can take in as their own due to a string of sterile cases. So he's suggesting we meet some of them and interview them and see if they'd be capable of taking care of him."

"No shit."

Amber jabbed Richie in the ribs, "What did I say?"

"Anyway, I wouldn't even know what to ask them."

"Do you have a family history of medical problems, have you had any experience with children, what would you do when so-and-so, do you know any good pediatricians, what sort of career currently plays a part in your life, are you single, married or happy? That kind of stuff."

"Great, then you can interview them," Richie said as he swung the blade down his cheek.

"I don't want to interview them," Amber said.

"Well then how are you going to pick one?" Richie asked.

"I don't want to pick one," Amber replied, "I want to keep him for ourselves."

"So would I, but odds are it won't work out that way."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not practical," Richie said, "my God, I'm starting to sound like Mac."

"Yeah well stop, it doesn't have to be practical, his life hasn't been practical, you don't call the sort of home he had practical but that was what he had. Now he has us, Methos, Shelly, he has people who never even knew about him who care more for him than the two junkies who conceived him."

"See? Now you get it," Richie said, "now you understand the way it is with new biological parents. Especially young ones, they don't want to have to take any action for what they do. So they think they can slip through the cracks with protection, only guess what? It doesn't work, never did. So, then there's the easy way out, abortion, and unfortunately, too many women already are doing that, then there's the not so easy way, try and create a miscarriage. But odds are, it doesn't work, then there's the birth, and you're stuck with it, all because you didn't think."

"If that's the way they think these days, I'm glad my mother was an old-fashioned woman of sorts," Amber said.

"Wish I could say the same about my mother," Richie said as he washed the remainders of the shaving cream off his face.

"I'm sure she was, she had you, she knew the odds weren't good so she called in her sister, who she knew would take care of you."

"And both died young."

"So odds are you're lucky you're an Immortal."

"Amber."

"Oh give it a rest, there's nothing to worry about."

"You know, Amber?" Richie asked, "I've been thinking, what's gonna if Jeremy lives with us until he grows up? I mean, what're we going to do when he asks about his past? We don't know anything about him except who he is, how old he is, and where he lives."

"I don't think it matters Richie."

"But Amber, if he finds out that we're not his real parents, then he's going to hate us for not telling him the truth."

"Richie, put yourself in his place, what would you rather have? Two parents who didn't care about you, or two strangers who were bending over backwards for you?"

"Allright, allright, I see what you're getting at, I get it, I just don't get how we're going to tell him that we had to take over as his parents because his own couldn't take care of him."

"Well we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Amber said, "in the meantime, I suggest we get this kid cleaned up."

"I'll take care of that, you stay in the bedroom incase someone comes in," Richie said.

"You sure?"

"Yes, now go."

Richie picked up Jeremy and placed him on the side of the tub as he removed his shoes.

"Allright, pa," Amber laughed as she went back into the bedroom.

Amber picked up a stack of books from her trunk, put them on the bed, flopped down beside them and started skimming through them, when Amanda knocked on the door and came in.

"Amber, is everything allright with you and Richie?" she asked.

"Well," Amber said in a cocky tone, "you know, the sex life has really been kind of non-existent lately but…other than that we're…bored as hell is what we are. Thanks for asking."

Amanda walked over to the bed, "Amber, that's not what I mean."

"Oh…"

"Is something wrong."

"Well…I don't know about Richie but…I've been hemorrhaging lately, and you?"

"Amber…"

"Look Amanda, I really don't have time for this, I have to write an 8-page term paper on the nuclear family, along with a reference page, so I have a dozen books to go through, until Monday."

"The university's closed Monday."

"I know, I want to get it done now, so I can go in looking like I haven't done a thing and then surprise them."

"Just like I do with Duncan at dinner," Amanda said, "Amber…if something's wrong, you can tell me…"

"No I can't," Amber replied, "believe me, Amanda, if I could tell you, I would…but I can't."

"Well then maybe I'll ask Richie," Amanda said as she waltzed over to the bathroom door.

"No!"

"Why not?"

"You can't."

"Why?"

"Allright, I'll tell you," Amber said, "come here."

Amanda went back over to the bed and awaited Amber's response.

"The thing is…………………Richie's in there right now getting a bikini wax."

"What?!" Amanda choked on a guffaw.

"Yeah, he wanted to try something new but didn't want anyone to find out, so now you know, and keep in mind he's at a point where he's very self conscious so don't mention it to anybody," Amber said.

"That's the big secret?!"

"What can I say? The boy is just so self-conscious at this time. Next time however…"

"What's he going to do?" Amanda asked, "Try and grow breasts?"

"No, he was thinking of a full Brazilian wax."

Amanda buried her head in the covers on the bed, drowning out her laughter.

"I don't believe this," she shrieked when she got up.

"Well just remember, it's all off the record. You know, all that hush-hush stuff, like with the CIA."

"Cross my heart," Amanda said as she gestured with her fingers across her blouse. That obviously sparked a provocative joke in her mind, no doubt involving Richie, which only made her laugh harder on her way out.

Amber set down her book and headed back into the bathroom.

"Well, how are things going in here?"

"That's a rather personal question, isn't it?"

"Funny, Richie."

"My guess is not as much as whatever you told Amanda."

"Oh that, just something to keep her from coming in here."

"Well, at least it worked," Richie said.

"For now."

"He sure is a cute boy," Amber said, "who do you think he got his eyes from?"

"His father."

"How do you know?"

"I don't," Methos said, "but whenever someone points out a kid's eyes when they look good, they say they got them from the father."

"You think you did?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just never saw anyone with eyes like yours, I don't know what to call them but all the girls at the university say they're a mixture of gold and green. Or maybe you got one color from your father, and the other from your mother."

"What about you?"

"Both my parents had blue eyes so I wouldn't know."

"Of course, this kid is something else. Considering WHAT his parents are, I'd say it's a wonder his eyes don't look stoned, just like his father's," Methos said, "What time is Richie getting back?"

"I don't have a clue, he usually stays out until 1 or 2 in the morning, and he wants to make it look like everything's normal with us, so…did Mac and Amanda leave already?"

"Yeah, about an hour ago I think."

"And Joe?"

"He's loathing around downstairs in the living room, doing something that involves a bottle of brandy, a deck of cards, and a holographic motion-key chain. I don't want to know and I don't think you do either."

"Well then I guess that means we'll be up here tonight, so…"

"So it looks like the two of you are going to be keeping an old man company tonight," Methos said.

"Yeah, I guess so….you said you used to be a father to some of the babies you delivered, how was that?"

"After the proper burial for the mother, fine, I suppose. They were perfect angels, and I mean it, it wasn't like these days where they're a Jekyll and Hyde. Of course these days, there's more ways to get in trouble, especially without anyone knowing," Methos said.

"And what did they call you?"

"They didn't call me anything, they liked me."

"Well what did the mothers call you?"

"Doctor."

Amber laughed, "We're getting nowhere fast."

"And it could be that way for days," Methos said.

"So it's been a while since you were around a helpless child, huh?"

"Yeah…"

"I talked to Richie, he told me that some years ago an old girlfriend came back with a baby, she thought was his."

"MacLeod told me, that's one thing that Immortals have a hard time accepting."

"I guess I'm lucky."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind being a mother," Amber said, "but after that night with Mario, I was worried I'd be carrying his child. Wouldn't that just be perfect? My parents were dead, I killed two men who tried to kill me, I was on the run from everybody, and I might be carrying the next Michael Myers."

"Instead, now, you have the next Richie Ryan."

"Wouldn't surprise me if he did turn out like Richie, boys in this day and age don't exactly take after their fathers, but Richie's always been the exception to many things."

Methos looked down on the bed and saw that Jeremy had fallen asleep.

"What did you do with him today?" he asked.

"Oh come on, Methos, little kids need a lot of sleep. I'm surprised he hasn't fallen asleep again since we were out on the road."

"Apparently it's something he hasn't been getting enough of lately."

"I know, how…how can you explain a 5-year-old boy who doesn't look any bigger than a 3-year-old? What explanation is there?"

"His parents could be small, may have had a birth defect, maybe he drank too much coffee."

"It's not funny, Methos."

"I know, but what're you going to do?"

"Nothing, there's nothing we can do about them now, all we can do is take it from here and hope we do something right."

Amber and Methos laid down on the bed, each on either side of Jeremy, with their arms propped up behind their heads.

"Do you remember your past well?" Methos asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Then you know how to and not to be a parent," Methos said.

"I don't know, my parents weren't exactly the Standons, but they had their moments they were less than appreciable."

"All parents are, every generation makes mistakes that the next doesn't."

"And the majority of the time they don't even realize they made mistakes. Just went along the entire time thinking they were the greatest parents that existed and thought their kids didn't appreciate all they did for them."

"That's why a lot of people resent their parents and do whatever it takes so they won't be like them. And every generation improves with something."

"Well then one of these days the world's gonna be full of error-free people, aren't they?" Amber asked.

"If we last that long."

"Something I don't get though, his parents obviously didn't want him, so why didn't they just give him up for adoption?"

"Could be they come from families who don't believe in adoption."

"But they certainly believe in drug abuse and careless sex."

"Exactly, that's the way they think today, they don't consider the consequences of anything they do. I ask, where did the human race get to be so stupid?" Methos asked.

"Somewhere between the beginning of time…and the 1960s," Amber guessed.

"Well yeah, the 60s that was a particular time I wasn't too happy with. It's not that I minded the war and all the violence, I've been through that all my life, it was the drugs and the hippies and that bad music and the streak….my mistake, that was during the 70s."

"Bad era, huh?" Amber asked.

"The worst, you're lucky you weren't alive during it, it was horrible, the streaking was one of the worst parts. And these days, that's still a tradition at sports."

"What about the Vietnam war?"

"Oh yeah, you wanna talk bloody horrible, WWII was seen as a genocide, what Vietnam was seen as I have no idea, to me it was another war. People thought it was a mistake, others thought it was just a test of freedom. The majority of people thought it was just training. You know what it really was?"

"What?"

"The biggest lie in history, that's how they got so many people to go."

"You ever think there'll be another Vietnam?"

"Hopefully not. Although I must say, it's improved a bit since my day. These days you have to be of a certain age, more commonly referred to as that point in your life 'when it's legal'. In my day, if you were old enough to hold a weapon, you were old enough to be sent out to fight, and to die."

"Yeah, Connor told me about that once."

"On the other hand, the way we fought back then was very simple, short, victorious and to the point. These days you have propaganda that the British would be proud of, missiles, nuclear bombs, high-power bazookas, not to mention senseless massacres that make Hitler's work look like a schoolyard fight…it's all senseless if you ask me."

"Yeah, when I was in Jersey, they always told me if people were smart, there wouldn't be any war, there'd be one simple fight to the death."

"And there is, but that's for each new generation, every country, some people of the same organizations. People think they've gotten smarter over time, when in fact they know even less than they did to begin with. They think it's intelligence that helps them win the war, with strategic drills, propaganda, all they know how to do is stall for time until the real battle starts."

"And that intelligence and knowledge is becoming greater by the day, what do you think it'll be like when Jeremy's Richie's age?"

"I honestly don't think he'll have to worry about living long enough to see Richie's age. By that time I think the human race will have done away with itself."

"I have a question," Amber said.

"What?"

"Why is it that every Immortal would want the head of a 5,000 year old man? It's not for knowledge, it's for power, strength, and that's something that you don't major in."

"Not anymore anyway."

"What…people think if you live to be your age then you must be a great warrior? An astonishing fighter?"

"For an Immortal to reach my age, you don't have to be a great warrior, you just have to have knowledge…that, and the will to live even after everything's happened."

"And if we're going to see an end to existence as we know it within a few years, it makes you wonder if it was worth everything. Everything you've done, said, learned, acted upon, every thing in your life, in the end, is any of it worth anything?"

"You would've made a great philosopher," Methos murmured.

"Yeah, except I'm too smart to go into that line of work," Amber said, "I guess I'm too smart for a lot of things, if I'm still alive after all this. I've learned a lot, how to fight, how to win, how to survive. And revenge, that's something I've learned a lot about as well. Now I know why everyone wants it."

"Which makes me wonder why you let me live," Methos said.

"You kept me alive…and everyone else."

"Now, yes…but 2,000 years ago."

"2,000 years ago the whole world was different, everything was different, customs, ways of life, the value of life, besides, back then you didn't have a choice. But, you got away, and moved on from it."

"Which is more than I can say for some people."

"Well the majority of them are dead, and the one that survives knows not to come near you. So don't worry about it," Amber said.

There was a long silence between the two, and both were surprised after all their yakking, Jeremy hadn't even moved from his spot on the bed.

Amber snickered and rolled onto her side.

"What?" Methos asked.

"I was just thinking, if Jeremy is going to be living with us, then he's going to have me, Richie, and the walking History book looking out for him."

"Thanks a lot."

"Well you are, you know practically all there is to know about everything, you remember Julius Caesar and Cleopatra and the black plague. I mean, is there anything you don't know?"

"Yes…why we exist, if you think about it, none of it makes sense and yet, here we are, fighting to the death and for what? So one of us can be left, but why? Why should there be one left out of all of us, and for what reasons? That's something that I can't explain."

Richie climbed in through the window and found the room empty, he went over to Methos' room and found both of them laying flat on the bed, practically dead to the world, with Jeremy in between them.

Richie laughed silently, "I don't believe this shit," he said.

Richie went over to the bed, got a firm hold on Methos and Amber's wrists and jerked suddenly. They shot up and turned around to find him staring at them. Methos turned on the light, got another look at Richie and screamed.

"Funny, old man, what's going on?" Richie asked.

"We were waiting on you to get back," Amber yawned, "what time is it?"

"2:20 in the morning."

"Have a good time?" Amber asked.

"Not really, the entire time I was worried out of my mind," Richie knelt down beside the bed, "is my hair white?"

"No, it's still short, dark and pointy," Amber said.

"So where's Mac and Amanda?"

"Well they had such a bloody horrible time last night that they went out on another date tonight," Methos said, "and if they aren't back now. Either they got another flat, or they're doing it until the cows come home."

A low "moo" came from Jeremy, who was by this time rolled over onto his stomach.

"The first time he talks," Amber said, "and he's doing farm impersonations."

Richie rolled his eyes as he picked Jeremy up, "I'll put him to bed."

"Well now wait a minute Richie, if you're putting him to bed then that means both of us are going to bed," Amber said.

"How come?" Richie asked.

"So neither one of us rolls on him during the night," Amber said.

Richie shook his head and went over to his room, Amber followed behind him and pulled down the covers on the bed.

"So, how was your evening with Methos?" Richie asked.

"Richie, I gotta tell you, it's like talking to a living hourglass. You ask him about any period of time between here and the days before the Horsemen, and he knows all about it."

"Typical Methos, always bringing up stories from Memory Lane for no reason."

"Well I asked. Nice to know someone who actually knows what he's talking about," Amber said, "besides, with all he knows, I think it'd be good to have him around Jeremy."

"Eh, why not?" Richie asked, "What's the worst he can do with the kid? Wrap him in a bed sheet with a wreath of crab grass in his hair, and dine on peacock brains and honey-coated ants while downing red grape wine?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," Amber said, "actually that sounds more of how he acts on a date."

Richie sighed as he removed his jacket, "Amber, it's too late in the night for this."

"Well then let's go to sleep."

"Okay…wait a minute."

"What is it now?" Amber asked.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Well let's see, it's after 2 in the morning, we've pretty much been on our feet all day, yeah, turning in sounds like a swell idea to me," Amber said.

"I don't mean that, I mean having Jeremy sleeping in the same bed with us," Richie said.

"Richie, don't worry, we're not gonna roll over on him," Amber said.

"That's not what I mean," Richie said, "I mean, do you think people still find it appropriate to sleep in the same bed as your child?"

"Quite frankly, Richie, I don't give a damn about what people find appropriate today," Amber said, "that's not going to tell me how to and not to treat Jeremy."

"Well, what about you?"

"What about me what?"

"How old were you when you stopped sleeping in the same bed as your parents?"

"For the most of it….six."

"For the most of it?" Richie repeated.

"Yeah, a couple of times when I was eight, there was this weird stuff going on in the house, particularly my room, that nobody else noticed, so my mother just figured, if it's going on in my room then it won't happen in their room."

"Well if you're sure about this," Richie said.

"Positive, nothing's going to happen…although now you might understand why I recommended you start sleeping in your jeans."

"Yeah."

Richie kicked off his boots, then climbed into the left side of the bed, Amber put Jeremy in the middle and crawled in on the right side and turned off the light.

"Goodnight Richie."

"G'night Amber."

"Good-night."

Richie and Amber shot up in bed and turned on the lights.

"And you were worried he wasn't going to see any improvement in his speech," Amber said.

They cut off the lights again and went back to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

Richie slowly raised his eyelids as he felt the rays of sunlight beaming down on him through the window. He slowly sat up in bed and saw that Jeremy and Amber were gone. In a panic, he jumped out of bed and first checked the bathroom, then he went across the hall and into Methos' bedroom, and saw he too, was alone in bed. Richie could only feel himself and Methos in the house, meaning Duncan and Amanda hadn't returned home yet, so he was in luck for the time being. Richie placed his hands on the mattress and shook it vigorously to wake Methos up.

He snorted a couple of times before he turned on his side, so Richie took the pitcher of water off the nightstand and doused him with it, while he muttered in his sleep, "Red leader! Red leader! The B-52's crashed in the ocean, I'm drowning, I'm drown-!"

Methos then woke up and kicked Richie, causing him to fall on the floor.

"What in the hell do you want, brat?" Methos asked, "You woke me up from a wonderful dream."

"What? Drowning in the Pacific Ocean?" Richie asked.

"No…me, in Belize, surrounded by half a dozen women in bed sheets, each with a natural beauty that Miss America would kill for," Methos said, "then when you jumped in…never mind, what are you doing anyway?"

"Have you seen Amber and/or Jeremy since I got back last night?"

"I should say not, how come?" Methos asked.

"Well I woke up, and they're not in my room, they're nowhere in this house so where could they be?" Richie asked.

Methos turned back on his side and said, "I suggest you look out the window."

"What?"

Methos pointed to his window, Richie got up and looked out and saw Amber coming up the sidewalk with Jeremy in her arms.

"Thank God," Richie huffed as he ran down the stairs and met them halfway up the walk.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Richie asked.

Amber held Jeremy to her with one arm and slapped Richie across the face with her free hand, "What did I tell you about your language?"

"I was worried out of my mind, I woke up and you were gone, and Jeremy was gone, I had no idea where you two might be. Why didn't you tell me where you were going?" Richie asked.

"Because Richie, when Jeremy woke up screaming and crying, waking up you to tell you our rendezvous wasn't exactly something on my mind."

"What?" Richie asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know, at first I thought maybe he had a nightmare, so I did what I could to try and calm him down, but nothing…then I thought maybe he did something in his sleep and he hurt himself. So I took him down to the hospital, had a doctor look him over. The doctor said he's fine, probably just uncomfortable in a strange environment since he's our guest for the week while Adam's friends are away."

"What?" Richie asked.

"That's what I told the doctor, that his parents are away, out of town, and they left him with Adam while they're gone. But Adam is too busy what with his job down at the university to really keep an eye on him so we've been taking care of him for the majority of it, and he's been staying in our room at night while he's up grading papers. The doctor was so gullible to that story, I figure if you looked up the word **_naïve_** or **_stupid_** that his picture would be right by it," Amber said.

"I don't believe this," Richie said, "if he was as bad as you said he was, then why didn't it wake me up as well?"

"I guess that maternal instinct never dies in women, even Immortal women. But don't worry Richie, the important thing is Jeremy is allright, he is healthy, and right now, aside from the rude awakening both of us received he is happy as can be," Amber said as she handed Jeremy over to Richie.

Richie looked at the boy, he seemed a bit tired but other than that, he never would've guessed there was anything wrong with him. It was now that Richie realized how much of a resemblance Jeremy held to him with his short, reddish curly hair, and his sharp blue eyes. Richie could hardly believe it, if he didn't know any better, he'd swear Jeremy was somehow related to him. That was the last thing Richie wanted, although the kid was as good as his as it was, he'd already found out more about his family than he wanted to know, and that was painful enough to deal with. Having another member of his family around wouldn't make it any easier. Richie closed his eyes tightly to shut the image out of his mind.

"Is something wrong, Richie?" Amber asked.

Richie opened his eyes and looked on at her, "No. Come on, let's get in before Mac and Amanda come back."

Amber headed upstairs with Jeremy while Richie passed through to the kitchen, halfway there he saw Joe on the couch, seemingly asleep. Richie stepped into the living room and saw right ahead from the next room was a window large enough to show the majority of the view right outside. Meaning if Joe hadn't been asleep, he could've easily have seen the two outside with the boy. Richie sighed in relief that Joe had been taking sleeping pills lately, and probably wouldn't be up for another hour or so.

As Richie headed towards the kitchen, he heard Joe grumble, "Morning, Richie."

Richie froze in his tracks, "M-morning, Joe."

Joe shifted up on the couch and rested his back against the arm, "Busy night?"

"Oh yeah," Richie said, "bar-hopping, getting drunk, punching someone's face in…fucking good times, I tell you…"

"I'm sure," Joe replied, "what time did you get back?"

"Oh…I'm not sure, by the time I got back here, I was SO wasted that I didn't even bother checking, you know, I just threw my stuff on the floor, fell on the bed and boom, I was dead to the world."

"So why aren't you struck with a hangover today?" Joe asked.

Richie thought for a minute, "Oh, you see, Mac doesn't know this but I got my hands on one of his better bottles of wine, so when I get up in the morning I just take a swig of it, and …well you know how it is, get up after a night of drinking and have a drink and you don't get a hangover, if you don't drink then you do because you did the night before and don't now so if you don't you will because you didn't after you did. Now I'm just getting confused by it all, so…"

"What's a better question is why would you come back drunk since you're looking after a kid?" Joe asked.

"You know?"

"Richie, give me a break, I may be an old man, but I'm not an idiot," Joe said.

Oh shit, Richie thought.

"How long have you known?" Richie asked.

"Just since yesterday…and don't worry, no one else knows," Joe said.

And hopefully they never will, Richie thought.

"So why didn't you say anything then?" Richie asked.

"Too many witnesses in this house. If anyone else finds out, sooner or later, _they_ will," Joe explained.

"So they're not going to find out?" Richie asked.

"I won't tell if you won't."

"What do you think, Methos?"

"What do I think?" he repeated, "He's a kid, kids get nightmares, it's understandable."

"But do you think that was it? I mean he was in pretty bad condition, even for a nightmare."

"Well, you're forgetting," he told Amber, "you grew up in more of a protected environment. This kid we don't know what hell he's gone through. So it's anyone guess what he saw, or what he thought he did."

"Well if you're sure that's just it and there's nothing really wrong with him."

"There is something wrong with him, he's five years old, lost his biological family which may be a good thing, and has been taken in by two kids who can't let anybody know he's staying with them. I tell you kid, society plays hell with the mind," Methos told her, "it rattles your brain. "What should you do?" "Who's at risk of finding out?" "Who's going to know?" "If they take him away, where will he go next?""

"Why don't they just take the kids from the horrible homes, find some actually decent people and put them with them?" Amber asked.

"Oh that could be for several reasons, laziness, uncaring, or it could have something to do with the mess of being a Good Samaritan means today."

"Why is that?"

"Because everybody's narrow minded today, all they look out for is themselves, and the rest worry about what other people will think of them, somehow by showing affection for someone else, they're being weak."

"So in fact, it's the ones who don't that are weak," Amber added.

"Exactly."

Methos looked down at Jeremy, who was asleep on the bed, curled up in a ball.

"What's going through your head right now?" Amber asked.

"I'm just thinking, _if _he lives long enough to grow up, I wonder if he's just going to slip in with the rest of this damn self conscious society."

"That will just depend."

"I know, and I've seen all too many good minds gone to waste. And why? Because people in this day and age only look out for their own arses."

"Well, I don't think we have to worry about Jeremy turning out like that," Amber said.

"You think?"

"Oh yeah, it's not really like the whole world we have to hide him from, just mainly Duncan, Amanda, and any flatfoot or press associate within the next 500 miles of here," Amber said, "when I was at the hospital last night, I met this young woman, Bethany, and she's got a boy, Dalton, and he's about Jeremy's age, and they even look a lot alike, and they just got along perfectly. In fact we're supposed to meet up with them again today and go down to the park with the boys."

"Do you know this woman?" Methos asked.

"Briefly," Amber said.

"Did you tell her much about Jeremy?"

"Just that we're taking care of him for a friend, not much after," Amber said.

Amber saw a look in Methos' eyes that seemed to be a combination of concern and panic.

"What?"

"Kid, do you remember what happened in the last chapter of New America?"

"The last chapter?" Amber then realized what he was getting at, "Methos, you don't think…"

"I don't think anything, all I know is that this woman doesn't sound too trustworthy."

"Well what do you want me to do? She's coming over at noon," Amber said.

"Call her and tell her you're sick, tell her a family member died and you have to leave town, tell her anything, but don't let her get within arm's reach of that kid if you can help it," Methos said.

Amber could tell Methos was in a no-nonsense mood. "Okay."

"I've seen what happens when people aren't careful, I've seen what happens when they think the people they know are okay, and what happens? The kids end up dead! Murdered in cold blood! Some are never found! Others are in such a bad condition their parents aren't allowed to see them to identify them! I saw plenty of that before, and I'll be damned if I'm going to see that happen again, to Jeremy," Methos told her.

"Would you rather take care of him today?" Amber asked.

"I would rather we don't have to worry about what might happen should something go wrong," Methos said.

"Methos?"

"What?"

"I just wanted to say thanks for agreeing to be part of this whole shenanigan and taking care of the kid," Amber said, "not a lot of guys are up for something like that these days."

"Well, it probably helps to have several thousand years of experience," Methos told her.

"Maybe, but even if that's the case, I think Richie's doing okay himself," Amber added.

"Considering the situation, I'd say we're all doing damn well if MacLeod hasn't found out yet," Methos said.

"And how long do you think we can keep this going before he finds out?" Amber asked.

"Honestly…I don't know," Methos said, "let's face it kid, we can't keep this up for much longer."

"I don't know why not," Amber said, "the Dollanganger children were locked in an attic for three years, four months and little over two weeks and there were four of them, two teenagers and two young twins, and only the two teenagers and one of the twins lived to leave and this is just one little boy. And we've really nothing to gain or lose by his presence here. All we have to worry about is that hot-headed Highlander turning him over to social services WHICH I highly doubt he'll have the gall to do."

"Well that will just depend, let's not forget who we're talking about," Methos said, "Duncan MacLeod who…"

"Who took in Richie Ryan, a foster child, after he broke into his store and almost divulged the secret of Immortals to the whole damn state of Washington," Amber added, "rather than just have him wait it out until he was 18 and free to do as he pleased, let's not forget that."

"That was different and you know why," Methos said.

"Yeah, yeah, sure…but if Richie weren't Immortal, do you think he would've just let him go back to foster care?" Amber asked.

"No, but only because he knew about Immortals."

"He didn't know about them, he just knew what he saw and what he saw was Duncan take Slan Quince's head. That could've meant anything, could've meant he was crazy, or liked to collect the trophies, or maybe he was like Jeffery Dahmer and wanted to refrigerate it."

"Exactly, he knew what Richie was and what Richie saw him do was part of what Immortals have been doing for centuries. He knew he had to look after him."

"But if Richie weren't Immortal do you think he still would've taken him in?"

"I highly doubt it."

"Well I don't. Duncan made the mistake of falling in love with a mortal woman so I think he would've made the same mistake by taking in a mortal kid."

"I beg your pardon, I don't find it to be a mistake that he fell for a mortal woman," Methos said.

"Do I want to know why?"

"Because in my life I have had 68 wives, all mortal."

"68 wives?" Amber repeated, "what did they call that, a harem?"

"No no no, I didn't marry them all in the same lifetime, when you live 5,000 years you have plenty of time for them all."

"Well I would hope so, otherwise I would hope they were very understanding about that stuff," Amber told him.

"I still wish you'd tell me what's wrong with you," Richie said.

"I told you, I just don't feel well today," Amber replied, "If Bethany insists on going out with the boys, you're going to have to take Jeremy."

"When should she be arriving?" Richie asked.

"My guess would be any time now," Amber went over to the bed where Jeremy was sitting, "When Bethany comes over, you're going to behave yourself, aren't you?"

Jeremy looked at her and nodded.

"We have got to get that kid to start talking," Richie said.

"He will, I think he just needs to wait until he feels like talking," Amber said, "you can't force someone to do what comes naturally, not to mention what happens to everyone at different times."

"True," Richie said, "when did you start talking?"

"My guess would be around six months old," Amber replied.

"Six months, that's rather young," Richie said.

"Well…when did you start talking?" Amber asked.

"I think I was probably around two at the time," Richie responded.

"There you go…why'd you wait for so long?" Amber asked.

"Don't know…didn't have anything to say I guess," Richie said.

"Ah—the strong silent type starts off silent I see."

There was a knock at the door, Amber looked at Richie because she knew it was Bethany.

Richie went down, wondering what to expect. He figured Bethany must have been 300 pounds with bolts in her neck. When he opened the door he saw a tall slender woman with long thin blonde hair covered with a red baseball cap, she was wearing a cheerleader's sweater and a tight pair of jeans, with her son, Dalton, clinging to her leg.

Richie looked down and was surprised by how much of a resemblance Dalton held to Jeremy. Pretty much the only difference between them was Jeremy's hair was a bit darker than Dalton's. Something else that caught Richie's eye was that Dalton was wearing the same outfit Jeremy was.

"You must be Bethany," Richie said.

"And you must…have had a sudden sex-change surgery after last night," Bethany replied.

"No, I'm Richie Ryan, Amber's roommate."

"Oh…" Bethany laughed, "I'm guessing you play the fatherly role in this family."

"Well I……never mind…Amber doesn't feel well today so she asked if I'd go in her place with you."

"Oh, well we certainly don't mind, do we, Dalton?" Bethany asked.

The child shook his head and stayed by his mother.

"I'm just guessing but I don't think your kid likes me too much," Richie said.

"Oh well Dalton's still a bit shy…you know how it was when you were five, don't you?" Bethany asked.

"Well sort of…actually I really remember being four…but I don't want to bore you with details of my so called exciting life. I'll just get Jeremy and be right with you," Richie said.

Richie rushed back upstairs to the bedroom, "Bethany's here."

"I'm aware," Amber replied. She went over to Jeremy and said, "Well Jeremy, now you're going out with your daddy for a while, now you're going to be have yourself, right?"

Jeremy shook his head no.

"That's right, give him hell," Amber laughed.

"What was it you were saying the other day about watching our language in front of him?" Richie asked.

"Well I figured it won't do any good…kids learn all sorts of words when they're young. Wouldn't you agree?" Amber asked.

"Sure, I learned a very colorful vocabulary before I was ten. But I can't say those words in front of Jeremy," Richie replied.

"You better go, she's waiting," Amber said.

Richie picked up Jeremy and as they headed out the door he said, "Say bye-bye."

Jeremy looked over Richie's shoulder and waved to Amber. She waited until the front door closed and she was sure they were gone before she got up and went after them.

"I don't believe it," Bethany said, "you grew up in foster care?"

"Yeah, what's so hard to believe about that?" Richie asked.

"**I** grew up in foster care," Bethany replied.

"In Tampa?" Richie asked.

"No, when I was younger I lived in Washington," Bethany said.

"What a coincidence, me too," Richie said, "Seacouver?"

"No, Seattle."

Jeremy and Dalton had gotten ahead of them and ran into the park and over to the jungle gym.

"You two play nice, you hear?" Bethany called.

Bethany gestured to a park bench, "You wanna sit down for a minute?"

"Best offer I've had all day," Richie replied, "I tell you, keeping an eye on Jeremy has been no easy task."

"You must really love him to take care of him for your friend like this," Bethany said.

"Yeah well…he seems like a lot more than that to me…so, how old is Dalton?"

"He's about six…"

"So that means you're…"

"I had him when I was sixteen," Bethany said.

Richie looked over at Bethany, she smiled. "I know it sounds bad, but you know…back then I had a guy in my life and I thought I was on top of the world. Then Dalton came into my life, and Jason left so…whether or not it was the right choice, I never regretted having him. He has made my life worth living after everything I've gone through, you know?"

"Not exactly," Richie said, "I don't have any kids of my own."

"Not yet, huh?" Bethany asked.

"Not ever, I can't have kids," Richie admitted.

"I'm sorry to hear that, did something happen when you were younger?" Bethany asked.

"It's a personal problem I don't really like to talk about," he replied.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, it's okay…I've gotten used to it by now," Richie said.

Bethany looked over and saw that Dalton and Jeremy had gotten into a fight and were wrestling on top of each other.

"Oh shit…come on Richie, we better go break this up before they get hurt," Bethany said.

They got up and headed to the middle of the park where the two boys were fighting. Bethany pulled one off the other and demanded an explanation. Richie was about to check Jeremy and see if he was allright when he heard someone shout from behind, "I know you! You're Richie Ryan, the prick who killed my brother!"

Richie turned around and saw a young man coming at him, but at the last minute he was stopped by two other people and pulled back. Richie didn't know who the man was or what he meant by his comment, but he decided to get Jeremy and take off. He turned around and thought he was going to have a heart attack, Jeremy was gone, and so was Bethany and her son. He looked up and saw Bethany running the other way with Dalton in her arms. Richie looked around and tried to find out who had taken Jeremy, he saw a figure making off with the boy in another direction, so Richie followed them. He ran after them and caught up when the Immortal buzz kicked in. The figure ahead of him stopped, Richie did the same. The figure turned around, revealing itself to be none other than Amber.

"Amber, what the hell are you doing?" Richie asked.

"Saving Jeremy," she replied, "Don't you get it that that outburst from the young man back there was all set up?"

"Wait a minute, are you talking about Beth…"

"Yes, yes, I'm talking about Bethany making off. She had intended to switch her son with Jeremy while your back is turned, then by the time she was gone it'd be too late to do anything, but I was expecting it so I grabbed him and made off with him before anything could happen. Then when she saw her chance was ruined, she grabbed her own kid and made off before you could realize what had happened," Amber said.

"But how? I would've known if you were near," Richie said.

"You were probably so caught up in all the excitement of what was going on behind you that you didn't even notice the buzz, it happens to all of us sometimes."

Richie looked at Jeremy and realized what had just happened. Someone had plotted, and almost succeeded in kidnapping Jeremy. But why? For what reason?

"Why would they do that?" Richie asked.

"When we find that out, we'll know who it is that wants him," Amber explained.

Amber went over to Richie and took him by the arm, "Come on," she said, "Let's go home."

Richie said nothing in response and merely nodded his head. He couldn't even begin to understand what was going on or what had just happened, but he knew it was just the beginning.


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you serious?" Methos asked.

"As a heart attack," Amber replied, "I don't know who Jeremy is but it's obvious that he must be pretty important if people are this desperate to get him back."

"I don't believe this," Methos said.

"You don't believe it?" Richie asked, "I was there!"

"Allright, do you believe it?" Methos asked.

"No…so what do we do now?"

"Well for one thing, by now it's too risky to take him back out again. At least for now anyway," Amber said, "Since we don't know who's looking for him we also don't know who they are, or where they are…they could be anywhere, the press, the police, downtown, uptown…"

"The college?" Richie suggested.

"That too."

They heard the door close downstairs, meaning only one thing.

"Romeo and Juliet are back," Methos said, "I'll go keep them busy, you get the kid out of sight."

Methos headed down the stairs and Richie picked Jeremy up and took him back to their bedroom.

"I can't believe this," Richie said, "I just can't…I figured someone would want him but I never thought they'd go to this extent to get him. Do you think someone else we've talked to could be looking for him?"

"It certainly is possible. But let's face it, most of the people aside from us who know about him are our friends, and we've known them long enough to know that they wouldn't do this," Amber said.

"Can we be sure of that? Mac knew a lot of people for centuries and none of them were what he figured they were," Richie replied.

"Well Mac is too trusting of people…that's why I consider myself a good judge of people and I don't like any of them," Amber said.

Richie laughed.

"Besides, when we first had Jeremy here, the only people we had to worry about running into was anybody in the police force, press media, or anyone who might know the kid or his parents. Now we gotta look out for everyone," Amber said.

"Which is why these next few days are going to be a bruiser to get through," Richie said.

Their hearts leapt into their throats as they heard Duncan and Amanda coming up the stairs. Amber grabbed Jeremy and ran in the bathroom; Richie closed the door behind her. A few seconds later, Duncan and Amanda and Methos entered the bedroom.

"Richie…"

"Hey Mac, what's going on?" Richie asked.

"We'd like to have a word with the both of you."

Duncan went over to the bathroom door and jerked on the knob.

"Hey!" Amber called, "I'm naked in here!"

"Sorry," Duncan turned back around, "Allright I suppose we can discuss this with just you."

"What is it, Mac?" Richie asked.

"Well we got a call from the dean today…"

"Today? It's Saturday."

"I know, that's not the point. He said he saw you and Amber out late last night with a small child. He said that you two must 'really be close as roommates' since he figured the kid was about five. Do you have any idea what he's talking about?" Duncan asked.

Richie shook his head, "Can't be, I was here all last night," Richie said.

"And Amber?" Amanda asked.

"I wouldn't know, I turned in early…but I'm sure she wasn't either. You know how fond she is of the wild nightlife and all that…I seriously doubt she'd have a young kid involved in it," Richie said.

"Well, the next time I see that dean I'm going to give him a piece of my mind," Duncan said.

"Excellent, so he'll have one in his head," Methos said.

"I think I'll go with you when you do," Amanda said, "make sure that it stays planted in his head."

Amanda and Duncan left the room debating with one another and Methos stayed behind and closed the door on them.

"That was close," he said.

"A bit too close for my comfort," Richie said.

The bathroom door opened and Amber came out with Jeremy on her hip. "You know, now and then there are times I'm glad that this kid can't talk."

"Well we'll just have to work on that," Methos said, "he'll have to start talking sooner or later."

"Suppose it turns out to be the latter?" Amber asked.

"Well that could be a problem," Methos replied, "You see, children develop at earlier ages these days than they used to, so going by common sense it is useless to estimate how long until puberty, and if a child doesn't learn to talk by the time they reach puberty…the odds are slim that they ever will."

"Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing at that college," Duncan said.

"Teaching 200 minds, that's what," Amanda said.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you had to grade these disasters," Duncan said as he held up a pile of report papers, "I don't get it. What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you," Amanda replied, "you're a great teacher, you just have crappy students."

At that time, the front door opened and closed as Richie came in.

"Speaking of which," Duncan said, "hello Richie."

Richie stopped at the staircase and headed into the living room, "Hey Mac."

"Richie, where've you been?" Duncan asked.

"Out."

"Did you speak to the dean today?" Duncan asked.

"Yes."

"And?"

"And nothing, he's forgotten about it."

"Allright."

Richie went up to his room, closed the door behind him and threw his helmet and a rolled up brown paper bag on his bed when he heard Amber. "And then Baby Huey says "GOOD-BYE PAPA!"

Richie turned around and saw Amber and Jeremy on her bed, with one of her comic books.

"Amber what the hell are you doing?" Richie asked.

Amber and Jeremy looked up from the book and over at Richie, "I'm reading to Jeremy, do you have a problem with that?"

Richie went over to her and snatched the book from her hands and read the title, Baby Huey, the Baby Giant.

"You're reading this to him?" Richie asked.

"I don't see why not," Amber replied, "it's not like there's a concerned group of hoiti toiti mothers looking to ban it or anything."

"Amber, how long have you been doing this?" Richie asked.

"About half an hour," she replied.

"And nobody's noticed?"

"Na, Mac's too busy grading all those papers that are all going to get the same F-, Amanda's trying to take his mind off of it, and Joe went back to Seacouver an hour ago."

"Where's Methos?" Richie asked.

"Taking a shower…where have you been?"

"Out…getting some things for Jeremy," Richie went over to his bed and unrolled the top of the paper bag.

"I hope it's not what I think it is," Amber said as she and Jeremy looked back down at the comic.

"Shouldn't be," Richie replied.

Richie took out a stuffed tyrannosaurus rex and gave it to Jeremy.

"Well look at that, Jeremy," Amber said, "Daddy got you a bedmate. Now you can cling to him at night, instead of daddy's leg."

Richie lightly laughed as he turned back around towards his bed, "So what exactly have you been up to?"

"Not much, just keeping Jeremy entertained," Amber replied.

"Yeah? How's that been going?"

"Pretty well…exhausting but it's worth it."

"And they still don't know about him?" Richie asked.

"They won't unless you keep yapping about it," Amber responded.

Richie peeled off his jacket and threw that down on the bed too, before he went over to Amber. "Amber…"

"Yes Richie?"

"Do you ever wonder if we're doing the right thing? Like maybe there's something else we should do?"

"No, never," Amber replied, "I know we're doing the right thing, Jeremy's going to get more attention and care here than he would in any foster home and you know that."

"Yeah, and I'm speaking from experience, so I should know this better than you," Richie said.

"Yeah…well you don't…now shut up and get into bed," Amber said.

"Allright, allright."

Richie pulled off his boots and crawled into bed on the opposite side of Jeremy, pulled the covers up on all of them, and turned off the light.

"I can't believe that we've managed to pull this off so far," Richie said as he looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror to finish his shave.

"I can't believe Jeremy's been here for a week and they haven't found out yet," Amber replied, "You don't suppose Joe will tell them, do you?"

"I highly doubt that, he went back to Seacouver to—to—how did you know he knew?" Richie asked.

"Give me a break Richie, I didn't get to be 16 before Immortality by being stupid," Amber replied.

"In any case, he hasn't told them yet and I doubt he'll start now," Richie said.

"Well that's good, that's the last thing we need is Mac blowing his top," Amber responded.

Richie cleaned off the rest of the shaving cream and drained the sink, "Well, I say its time we turn in."

"I agree," Amber said, "although to be honest I'm not sure what good it'll do. Since we got Jeremy I haven't had a decent night of sleep. I guess it's that maternal instinct, you know right after you have a baby, you don't get a full night's sleep until they're three."

"Really? I don't remember if I was like that," Richie said.

"I sure was," Amber said, "even after I started sleeping through the whole night my mother just couldn't get to sleep for more than three or four hours…that lasted until I was about…six or seven."

Richie laughed, "You were that bad, huh?"

"I guess I must have been…" Amber and Richie entered the bedroom and saw Jeremy on the middle of the bed looking at the pictures in a comic book.

"Great, he found the library you keep under your mattress," Richie said.

"Oh shut up," she said, "It's all harmless."

"I should hope so," Richie replied, "you've seen what they put in some comics these days."

"Yeah well whatever they do it ain't in any of mine," Amber insisted.

Amber picked up the comic book and put it on the dresser, "Well Jeremy, I'd say it was time to go to bed, don't you agree?"

Jeremy looked at her and nodded.

"Still ain't talking, huh?" Richie asked.

"Well we can't all be as talkative as you, Richie," she replied, "after all, maybe he's got nothing to say. Or at least, nothing he thinks we're interested in hearing."

Richie sat in a chair beside the bed and jerked off his boots, "You really think that, don't you?"

"It's possible," Amber replied as she removed her boots at the foot of the bed, "After all, whenever someone talks to me and I don't say anything to them, it's because I got nothing to say to them. I mean…I have something to say, but nothing they'd like to listen to."

"No argument there," Richie said, "but he's just a kid, he doesn't know about any of that."

"Don't be so sure Richie, kids learn all sorts of things especially when they're young like him. And in some cases one thing they learn early on is not to say anything. And let's face it, since we don't know what kind of environment he was in before meeting you, we can't be sure just what it is he's learned so far," Amber said.

Richie looked at Jeremy, he didn't want to admit it but every day he saw more of himself when he was younger, in Jeremy. And unfortunately it was no exception to the fact that when he was young, he knew many things he shouldn't have. He didn't even want to think about that tonight, he was too tired to bring it up, even to himself.

"Let's just go to bed," Amber said before he could, "maybe we'll get lucky and tomorrow will be different."

"I hope so," Richie said.

Amanda poured a glass of wine in two goblets as she waited for Duncan to return to the bedroom. He returned a few minutes later and seemed awestruck. The lights were dim, soft music was playing, and his wife was in a dark red dress and black heels.

"What is all this?" he asked.

"Just a little celebration," Amanda replied, "another week without an injury."

"What?"

"Well, this has to have been one of the worst weeks the instructors have seen at that college," Amanda replied.

"Several hundred students during midterms, it's not going to be easy on anyone," Duncan said.

"Plus we haven't really had much of any trouble here with the kids or Methos or…"

"So what exactly is this a celebration towards?" Duncan asked.

"One night, no papers to grade, no kids to put up with, no guests to entertain," Amanda said, "just you…me…and 12 hours to ourselves."

"Sounds like as good a reason to celebrate as any," Duncan said.

It was after midnight and Richie and Amber had been asleep for a bit over an hour, when they heard something that woke both of them up in alert. Jeremy was in between them, coughing and trying to breathe, all while it sounded like a seal barking.

"What's the matter with him?" Richie asked.

Amber picked up Jeremy and listened closer to the noise.

"I think it's croup," Amber said.

"What'll we do?" Richie asked.

Amber could tell Richie had never had croup or been around a kid with it, he was starting to panic.

"Calm down," Amber said as she kept a hold on Jeremy with one arm and threw the sheets back with the other, "We just take him in the bathroom and turn on the cold water."

"What?"

"We don't put him in it! For crying out loud…the cold will help his condition," Amber explained.

"Are you sure?" Richie asked.

"Of course I'm sure, Methos has a dozen medical books, all of which I've studied inside and out…and all of which carry a home treatment for this."

Amber took Jeremy into the bathroom with Richie right behind her, he took Jeremy as she turned on the cold water in the shower and the tub. Richie held Jeremy close and did his best to soothe him as he continued to gasp for air and in doing so, sounded like an animal. Although he was doing the best he could, Amber could tell he was practically a pile of jelly.

"Richie, calm down, if you're nervous, he will be too," Amber said, "or would you rather I hold him until you can?"

"No…"

"Richie, he'll be allright," Amber said, "almost every kid goes through this."

"I never did," Richie said.

"Yeah well neither have I," Amber returned, "but he is…plus they usually have it younger than Jeremy…but considering he hasn't grown as much as he probably should have by now, I guess that's normal in a sense."

"Look…do you think Methos would know anything about croup?" Richie asked.

"Oh sure…he's been a doctor…many times."

"Allright, go get him," Richie said.

"Allright," Amber said, "I'll be right back."

Amber dashed over to Methos' bedroom and knocked on the door twice. She waited a few seconds and the door opened and he poked his head out.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Come on," Amber took Methos by the arm and took him back to their bathroom.

"What is it?" Methos asked, still half asleep.

"The croup crud," Amber replied, "Jeremy's got it and Richie's turning into a walking ulcer over it."

"Allright, give the kid to me," Methos said as he went over to Richie, "I'll find out what's wrong with this kid…if anything…or maybe his parents are just two hypochondriacs."

"Na, this ain't something we made up," Amber said, "a sign of the croup in a young child is that they often wake up in the middle of the night coughing, and it sounds like a seal barking, right?"

"That is correct," Methos replied as he took Jeremy in his arms.

"Allright, so that's what he was doing just a few minutes ago," Amber explained.

"Really? I'd never guess," Methos said.

It was then that they both realized that Jeremy didn't appear to be having as much trouble breathing.

"Oh thank God," Richie exhaled.

"He'll be allright, I think he just got a mild case of croup, although I suggest you keep him in here a bit longer, just to make sure," Methos said, "and of course, someone is going to have to stay with him."

"I'll go get a couple of pillows," Richie said.

"I think I'll get my comic books, after tonight I don't think Jeremy's going to be much on sleeping," Amber added.

Methos looked at Jeremy after they left and said, "Don't worry, your parents aren't always this paranoid."

Jeremy lowered his head on Methos' shoulder and started crying, why, he didn't know. Methos sat on the edge of the tub and talked soothingly to the kid as he stroked his head.

Meanwhile, Amber and Richie were getting the things from their beds when the lights came on and Amanda and Duncan stepped in.

"Mac!" Richie said, "What's going on?"

"That's what we'd like to know, what the hell is that noise?" Duncan asked.

Richie was tempted to ask 'what noise', but then the undeniable sound of a child crying, made him realize they were up shit creek now.

Amanda stormed into the bathroom with Duncan following right behind her. They both stopped when they saw the stunning sight of a child in Methos' arms, whom he was comforting and relaxing, and trying to get to go to sleep.

"Methos!" Duncan exclaimed.

"Congratulations Mac, it's a boy," Methos announced.

Amanda stormed right over to him and said, "Methos, where did that child come from?"

Methos sighed and said, "How do I put this likely? When two people get together and their hormones are running wild, they…"

"No no no!" Amanda replied, "Not that, where did **this** kid come from?"

"**This** kid has a name, Jeremy," Methos said.

"Pardon me, but what the bloody hell is Jeremy doing here?" Amanda asked.

"Right now, suffering croup, would you happen to know anything about it?" Methos asked.

"Methos, did you bring him here?" Duncan asked.

"No!" Richie replied, "Mac…Amanda…I brought him here…it…I can explain everything…maybe not in a way that I should…maybe not that it will make any sense…but you have to believe me, I didn't have any choice."

"Well I hope this is good, Richie," Amanda said.

"It better be, or else I'll hide you till you can't sit down," Duncan added.

"Hey!" Amber said, stepping in, "you touch Richie and I'll rip your head off with my bare hands, with the vertebrae attached and hang it over the fireplace like a trophy! How does that strike you, Mac?"

Everybody started yelling at each other and Methos finally stepped in between them all, still with Jeremy in his arms and crying because of the noise.

"Allright, everybody settle down! Listen, there is an explanation for all this, and you'll get it, but for the time being there is a sick child here, who needs all of you to shut up before he has his first nervous breakdown."

"Here, give him to me," Amber said, "I'll stay with him."

"He'll be allright," Methos said as he handed Jeremy to her, "the worst of it's over for the night…"

"Allright look, right now I don't care who brought him here," Duncan said, "just tell me one thing…how _long_ has he been here?"

"A week tonight," Amber replied.

Duncan's eyes went wide an a vein appeared in his head, he was about to go charging at her when Amanda stopped him. "A whole week, so that's why you haven't gotten into any trouble this week," Amanda said, "I knew it was too good to last…Duncan, come with me, I'd like to have a word with you."

"I'll come too, I can defend Richie better than he can himself," Methos said.

Richie sat down on the edge of the tub, beside Amber, who held Jeremy in her arms as they waited for him to calm down.

"It'll be allright, Jeremy…nothing's going to happen and NO ONE is going to take you away from us."

Richie didn't know what to say, he didn't say anything, he just put one hand around the back of Jeremy's head and his other arm around Amber.

"Amanda, I can't believe you're not shocked by this," Duncan said as he paced around in their bedroom.

"Well of course I'm shocked, Mac…but we know Richie, if he brought Jeremy here then he had to have had a reason to do it."

"He did," Methos said.

"Oh, and what is that?" Duncan asked.

"While you two were out one night Richie went out too, on his way back he noticed the police raiding this house. The same house where Jeremy was living at the time. His parents and several of their friends were taken in for being involved in drugs along with this and that. Richie didn't want Jeremy to go through a life of foster-care where nobody wanted him, like he had, so when nobody was looking he brought Jeremy home. Now it might not have been considered the right thing to do lawfully, and it was probably even stupider of him not to tell you, but considering he, Amber and myself have been the only ones taking care of him, and making sure nobody takes him away from us, I think we've done as good a job as could be expected in taking care of him."

"I don't believe this," Duncan said as he continued pacing.

"Think about it, MacLeod!" Methos said, "The Clan MacLeod that you grew up in was not your real family but it didn't matter to you. What mattered was that you were surrounded by people who loved you, people who considered you part of their family. Now, thinking back, does it matter to you that you were not their blood relative? Does it bother you that it was not your real family?"

"No."

"Exactly, because it was all you knew, and you knew that when they considered you part of their Clan, they cared about you. Back then, family was important, in some cases, family was everything. Over the last few centuries, the pride of family, blood or not, has decreased like you wouldn't believe. People don't even look out for family these days, they're too concerned about their own lives. Most people, especially young children, don't have a family looking out for them. That was Richie's case and that was what he saw happening with Jeremy and he decided not to let this kid end up like he did. He was the one who brought Jeremy back here, sneaked him in so no one would know, and then even after being found out, decided that if he had to, he alone would take care of this kid. MacLeod, does that really sound like grounds for punishing him?" Methos asked.

Duncan looked at him for a minute saying nothing, and finally he just responded, "No it's not."

"Well now you're starting to see things our way," Methos said, "Look, I know neither of you can begin to imagine just what its been like this past week but…I can assure you that if Jeremy's ever going to be somewhere he's wanted, it's going to be here."

"You're so sure of that aren't you, Methos?" Amanda asked.

"Yes, and with good reason," Methos replied.

Amanda believed him, "Well what are we going to do?"

"What we have to do," Duncan answered.

"MacLeod, we can't do that," Amanda said.

"We better, or else they're going to get charged with kidnapping, and we're going to be charged with aiding and abetting!"

"No we won't," Methos replied, "nobody has reported him missing so nobody knows he's gone. Well except for the people who tried to switch him for another child."

"What?" Amanda asked.

"A few days ago, Richie took Jeremy out with this lady he met and her son, who was almost identical to Jeremy. While they were at the park, some man started a riot pointed directly at Richie. While his back was turned, the woman tried to swap the kids and take off with Jeremy before he could notice, but she failed."

"So they are looking for him," Duncan said.

"Yes, but who? Who is trying to do this?" Amanda asked.

"We don't know, all we can guess is for some reason his junkie parents want him back, and are willing to get to him at any cost," Methos replied.

"Duncan, we can't let that kid be taken back to those people," Amanda said, "think of what they'll do to him."

"I am…but I'm not seeing any way that we could possibly keep him with us, what's left? Our hands are tied," Duncan said.

"We can keep him for the time being," Amanda said, "when they were taking care of him they were doing fine, with the five of us it should be little trouble."

"For now," Duncan replied, "but Amanda, for one minute, think with your head…We are Immortals, he is not. We can't protect him forever, and how are we going to explain him getting older and we never do?"

"Well I don't really think he'd notice for quite some time," Methos said, "to a child, the only ones they notice changing are themselves and children like them, around their age, their height, they notice when they start to change, but usually everyone else looks the same for several years, they don't see anyone getting older except themselves really."

"Thank you Doctor Spock," Amanda said.

"Look," Methos said, "you've got a choice to make, either you come off your high-horses and deal with having a kid in the house…or you do to him exactly what everyone did to Richie at his age, and see how well he turns out…now you can have this debate running all night, but you can do it without me."

Methos left the room and slammed the door behind him.

"Amanda, I…"

"Shhhhhh…"

Amanda went over to the door and opened it a crack and saw the three Immortals out in the hall.

"I think the worst is over, he's calmed down," Amber said, "but now he won't let us put him down."

"Allright, give the kid to me, I'll get him to sleep, meantime why don't the two of you turn in? You two look like the living dead."

Methos took Jeremy from Richie and took him over to his room and closed the door behind him. Amber and Richie returned to their room and closed their door, and that was the last noise heard from either of them.

"Well MacLeod, what're we going to do?" Amanda asked.

"I wish I could say," Duncan replied, "but right now I'm stuck."

"Well we can't very well turn him over to the social workers," Amanda said, "there's no telling who they'll stick him with."

"That's true…"

"And we can't take him to the police because they'd just put him back with his parents who are obviously the worst candidates for the job."

"That's also true…"

"And we can't very well keep him here with us for much longer before something happens."

"I know…"

"But you know MacLeod, so far I think they've done allright as parents. I mean they decided they were the best choices to take care of him, which they obviously are. They saw to it that no one would find out about him, including us, and nobody was going to take him away. He seems to be a very nice kid so they must be doing something right, and tonight he got sick and they did what any parent with half a brain would do…so for right now I think the best choice is to keep Jeremy here with us and see what happens. At least until we can find someone who we know will take care of him," Amanda said.

"You're not serious, are you?" Duncan asked.

"Damn right I am…it's only temporary…a few days, or weeks…they've kept him here a week without us knowing so it shouldn't be too much trouble," Amanda said.

"Right now, I want to have a word with both of them," Duncan said.

Duncan rushed past Amanda and out the door and Amanda followed him into the hall.

"Oh here we go again, the raging Scottish boy scout, always rushing to do the good deed of the day, regardless of the consequences or whom they affect."

Duncan opened the door to their room and saw that both of them were passed out in their own beds, both out cold from exhaustion.

"You still want to have that word with them?" Amanda asked.

"The hell with it, I'll do it in the morning," Duncan said as he turned around and left.


	6. Chapter 6

Amber felt the morning sunlight through the window. Even with her eyes closed it was painful, so she turned over onto her other side, when she realized that she was alone in her bed. She woke up and looked at the other side of the bed and it was empty, messed up but empty, over across the room Richie was asleep in his bed.

"Oh my God," she said as she got out of bed, "Oh my God!"

Richie woke up and shot up in bed, "What's the matter, Amber?"

"Jeremy! He's not here!"

"What?"

The door swung open and Methos came in carrying Jeremy. "What in blue blazes is going on in here?"

"Oh Methos, thank God, for a minute I didn't know what happened to Jeremy," Amber said as she took the boy in her arms.

"No problem, he's allright now but I'd suggest getting a humidifier for this room incase he gets the croup again tonight," Methos said.

"Oh we will……I must be exhausted, I can't even remember what happened last night," Amber said, "I thought we all went to bed together."

"Thanks for the invitation," Methos said, "but I had a prior engagement."

"Not you, you dimwit, Richie and Jeremy and myself," Amber said as she sat down on her trunk, "What did happen last night?"

"Well for one thing, the cat's out of the bag as far as MacLeod and Amanda are concerned," Methos said.

"Oh man, we're really up shit creek now, aren't we?" Amber asked.

"To be honest, I'm not sure, they did a lot of debating last night and I'm not sure which way it ended," Methos said.

Amber lowered her head and squeezed her eyes shut. Methos left the room and Richie took Jeremy from her.

"I swear, Richie, if Immortals could get heart attacks I'd swear I was having one right now," Amber said.

"It'll be allright," Richie said, "Amanda was more for keeping Jeremy."

"How do you know?" Amber asked.

"I overheard them," Richie said, "and you know how persuasive she can be."

"Yeah, but I'm not too sure she's all for having him here as she says she is," Amber said.

"Well of course she isn't, she doesn't know what's been going on, what it's been like to have Jeremy here…they don't know anything about it yet," Richie replied, "But they will soon."

"I certainly hope so," Amber responded, "We've come too far to lose him now."

"You haven't even heard their side of the story yet, Duncan, you don't know what's been going on," Amanda said, "What do you want to do? Kick them out of the house? Have social services take Jeremy to a group home?"

"No, you know that's not what I want," Duncan said as he paced in the kitchen.

"Well you better decide what's going to happen, because pretty soon, we're going to have to decide where everyone stands on this," Amanda said.

"I can tell you right now where I stand on this," Duncan said.

"Yes and if you don't reconsider, I'll be standing with a spiked heel firmly planted up your Scottish butt," Amanda replied.

Duncan grunted. They both looked up as Amber came down the stairs, she looked like hell and no doubt felt the same way. She avoided all contact with them as she made her way over to the table, she pulled in her chair and looked down, avoiding eye contact.

"Good morning, Amber," Amanda said.

Amber placed her hand on the back of her head as if she had a hangover, "Please…please."

Amanda got up from the table and went over to the stove to pour some coffee, Duncan took a step closer to the table and said, "I just want you to know that I'm really disappointed in you Amber."

Amber practically peeled her face off the table and smoothed back her hair to look up at him, "Well that's fine with me, I couldn't care less if you're disappointed in me, just so long as you don't drag Richie into this."

"He's next on my list," Duncan said.

"Oh fuck, Duncan, you have no right to do that to him, you don't even know what's going on," Amber said.

"I'm not sure I even want to know Amber, do you realize what you've done? You committed a felony!"

"Ah, no shit, really?" Amber asked, "Tell me something I don't know, you ass. Richie and I have been bending over backwards to please everyone for the last week, walking on eggshells the entire time, and why? Because we committed 'a serious felony'…murderers get out in two years for first degree, rapists walk out before even taken to court, but we bring this kid home with us so he'll have a better life than he has already…alert the authorities, what could we have possibly been thinking when we committed this heinous crime?"

"Your sarcasm is wearing thin," Amanda said.

"Just like the ice you're skating on," Duncan added.

"Oh get off my back, Mac, we can't go to jail…at least not without dragging a few other people down with us. And I can guarantee you that if we have to be put in lockdown, we will make life a living hell for anyone else who's nearby."

"At least you have a plan if the state turns you down," Amanda said.

"Oh will someone be serious for a minute?" Duncan asked.

"Serious? You don't know what serious is, Mac," Amber said, "One week ago, I wake up to find that Richie has smuggled an almost six-year-old boy into the house without anyone's knowledge of it. Now…you can't exactly call that lawful, moral, or even semi-intelligent…but it's also my understanding that you can't call raising that child in a drug and God-knows-what-else induced environment, whose parents are the obvious leaders or dealers or partners of this whole mess. Richie said from the start that if he had to, he was going to take care of this kid himself, we wouldn't have to do anything.

"But that wasn't my main concern, that wasn't even an option, the concern was how to keep you from finding out about it, because we knew what you would say! That's how well we know you that we knew you could never find out. And we could've done it by ourselves, just the two of us, but no, we decided to recruit someone who has had five millenniums of experience in just about everything, to help us. And that went well too! The week went by, we were okay with it, Methos was okay with it, Jeremy was having the time of his life, he got healthier than he was when he first showed up, and then we had some trouble here and there but nothing came of it. Now, we have a sick child who needs our attention more than ever, especially at night because every idiot knows that's when croup reaches its worst…AND YOU'RE GOING TO TELL ME HE SHOULDN'T BE HERE!"

"Amber, no one is saying anything right now, we're just…trying to decide what should be done," Amanda said, "Now Duncan knows some people who could take far better care of Jeremy than you three ever could…"

"No."

"It's okay, they're mortal, no one would ever come after them," Amanda said.

"No," Amber repeated. It wasn't denial, it was a statement.

"Amber."

"I don't trust him being with anyone besides us," Amber said.

"Amber, we don't have a choice, we're all Immortals, we can't risk something happening to him," Amanda said.

"I don't care," Amber said, "Richie will agree with me on this one, Jeremy is better off with us."

"Yes, but what happens when we start fighting other Immortals again?" Duncan asked, "What's going to happen then?"

"Hey, the rules are that it has to be a one on one fight between Immortals, meaning there could always be someone watching Jeremy," Amber said, "Let's face it, none of us is too likely to lose a battle."

"Amber, you're not thinking clearly about this," Duncan said, "be reasonable."

"I tried being reasonable once, it almost got me killed. This makes more sense," Amber said.

"Amber, I don't want Jeremy to go either…"

"The hell you don't, you can't tell me that you want him to stay," Amber said.

"Look, right now it's not about what I want or what you want, it's what's best for Jeremy," Duncan said.

"And what would that be?" Amber asked, "Foster care? A group home? Perhaps some priest on holy ground?" Amber shot up from her seat and gripped the table, "Damn you! Damn you Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, you and your stubborn pride! You'd rather do what you consider the right thing than take into consideration what's at stake!"

"Amber please, you're going to wake him," Amanda said.

"Oh no I won't, he's already up! He's staying with Richie and Richie is staying upstairs for the time being because he doesn't want to have to face any of this!" Amber replied.

"He has to! He started this mess, he's going to finish it," Duncan said firmly.

Amber had quieted down and lowered herself that she leaned over the table, she planted one hand firmly on the table and with the other pointed an accusing finger at MacLeod, "Fuck you," she said quietly.

"He had to have taken into consideration the consequences for his actions," Duncan added.

"Fuck you," Amber repeated, this time a bit louder.

"If he'd been using his head at all, he would've known it was a useless idea," Duncan added.

"FUCK YOU!" Amber knocked Duncan in the jaw and sent him flying across the floor before he banged his head against the wall, unconscious.

"Amber!" Amanda said.

"If Connor were here, he'd call that the end of a conversation," Amber told her, "And I bet even he has more common sense than Duncan does on this whole thing."

"But Connor's not here," Amanda reminded her.

"Well I'll get him here!" Amber said as she stepped over Duncan's body and over to the phone.

"Oh no you don't!" Duncan said as he came around, "If anyone's going to talk to Connor it's going to be me."

"The hell it will," Amber said as she dialed Connor's number in New York. The phone rang a couple of times and by then Duncan was up and trying to get at Amber to take the phone away. She held him back with one hand while she held the phone in the other when she heard Connor pick up.

"Hello Connor," she started, "I guess I don't have to tell you who this is, but I will tell you this…"

"Connor don't listen to her!" Duncan protested, "She's not going to…"

"WE NEED YOU TO COME TO TAMPA AS SOON AS YOU CAN! WE HAVE A BIT OF A DILEMMA HERE!" Amber added.

She put the receiver close to her ear and hung up, "He's already gone."

"Amber, this is getting ridiculous, this has got to be the single most insane thing that you have ever done," Duncan said.

"No, the single most insane thing I've ever done would have to be when I roamed through a hotel lobby in the middle of the night, stark naked…but that's a story for another time."

"Allright, allright, everybody calm down!" Amanda said, "Connor's going to be coming here, HE can be the voice of reasoning if he wants to be, until then, we are not going to say another word on whether Jeremy stays or goes. For the time being we are just going to keep our mouths shut and take care of him, just like we were going to originally, is everybody okay with that?"

"Yes," Duncan and Amber replied.

"Well then it sounds unanimous," Methos said as he came down the stairs.

"And how long have you been listening?" Duncan asked.

"Long enough to know you're not particularly appreciated this morning," Methos replied.

"That's enough," Amanda said.

"Is Jeremy allright?" Amber asked.

"Fine, he's up with Richie."

"And how's he?"

"Not so well, he heard the commotion down here," Methos said.

"I'll go take a look at him," Amber said.

"I'll do it," Duncan insisted.

"No thank you, you've helped him quite enough already," Amber replied as she headed up the stairs.

Amber went across the hall and over to their bedroom, Richie was sitting on the bed hunched over with his face in his hand and a sour look on his face. Jeremy sat beside him in the same position.

"What's going on?" Amber asked.

"I heard everything," Richie muttered, "Thanks for sticking up for me, Amber, but I don't think it did any good."

"Well…I talked to Connor, he's going to be coming over here…he's going to be the voice of reasoning about this, what do you think he'll say?" Amber asked.

"Well he's Mac's teacher," Richie said, "he taught Mac a lot of what made him what he is. I think you know what he's going to say, he's going to say that Jeremy should be put with someone who can take care of him like we can't."

"Yeah well I'm not rolling over for the pride of the Scottish," Amber responded, "One way or another I'm going to see to it that nobody takes Jeremy away."

"What're you going to do? Cross the boarder?" Richie asked.

"If I have to," Amber said.

"What?" Richie asked.

Amber stood up and went over to her side of the room. "There's a small island right off the states, Belize…you can go there if you're wanted for a felony and nothing can be done."

"Yeah but if that was the case, you'd be wanted as a kidnapper and you could never come back," Richie told her as he got up and followed her.

"Well Richie, if it's worth the risk I think it's worth doing," Amber said, "And…I know you wouldn't be up to it so I'm not saying you have to come with me if I do…you could come and visit once in a while but if it's what I have to do, Richie, then I will."

"Who said I'm not up to it?" Richie asked.

"Do you really think you could say goodbye to Amanda and Joe and Methos and Mac and come with me? If they hold me for kidnapping, you'll never be able to return to the states."

"I'm not too concerned about missing Mac anytime soon," Richie said.

"Yeah right, don't make me laugh," Amber said, "you'll go back to him, you always do, no matter what he says, no matter what he's done to hurt you."

"Hey, Mac would never…"

"Intentionally hurt you, right, right, I'm so sure…Richie, he killed you! Did you forget that?"

"He didn't know…he couldn't have…you don't know what was happening at the time," Richie said.

"I know…I also know that he didn't kill you, and there was no curse that brought you back," Amber added.

"What? What're you talking about?" Richie asked.

"Duncan didn't kill you…he thought he had but it just turned out to be another one of these tricks that that demon was pulling at the time…meanwhile you were attacked somewhere in the race tracks and knocked into a coma that lasted three years."

"A coma?"

"Pretty much, you weren't really dead but you didn't give off any Immortal presence…I—I found your body when they were digging up some graves in Paris, I knew this guy at the time who had your body put in a brand new casket and put on an airplane heading for Illinois because nobody who might have known you would ever when you were alive, thought to look for you there. We had the casket taken to the cemetery and we took you out and put you on top of a recently planted grave…and I left…I didn't want to have to face you at the time, and be asked any questions that I couldn't possibly answer. It wasn't until after I left your body that I'd found out everything that had happened."

"But you said…"

"I told you I used the curse to bring you back, but I just said that because I thought it'd be easier than telling you the truth…"

"I don't get it," Richie said, "When I was dead…or wasn't, whatever…what I saw…my mother…Tessa…Gary…"

"Richie, I believe you saw them, I think when you were put in that coma, it just kind of knock you out of yourself in a way, so…in a way you were in Heaven, but in a way you were still in your body…I'm not sure because I don't know how the afterlife works with Immortals," Amber said.

Richie looked like he had been hit with a ton of bricks, he didn't move, he didn't blink, he didn't know what to do. He was in total shock.

"Look Richie…I realize I brought this all on you quite suddenly…I'm sorry…for everything…who knows? Maybe you'd be better off if I left."

"No," Richie insisted, "Look…I'll be fine, I just need some time for all of this to really hit me…but I'll be fine…"

"Well…I guess that's good," Amber said, "But now…now what are we going to do about Jeremy?"

"What does Amanda suggest?" Richie asked.

"That until Connor gets here we just do what we've been doing, only we let she and Duncan help too."

"Not a chance in hell," Richie scoffed.

"You're telling me," Amber said.

Amber sat down on her bed with Richie right beside her, Jeremy got off of Richie's bed and went over to Amber's and sat at her other side.

"But it doesn't really look like we have much of a choice," Amber said as she turned to Richie. He didn't look so good.

"Are you allright, Richie?" Amber asked.

Richie said nothing, he closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"I'm allright…I'm a—I'm a—I'm a—I'm…" Richie started shaking as tears rolled down his eyes.

He didn't say anymore, he couldn't. The shock of what Amber told him had hit him like a brick wall and now he was an emotional mess. Amber placed her arms around Richie and held tight, Jeremy walked over to Richie's side of the bed and put his arms around Richie's ribs and clung tightly to him. After a few minutes, Richie quieted down and leaned into Amber peacefully.

"Richie, are you going to be okay?" she asked.

Richie nodded, "I'll be fine…this has all just been a shock."

"I know…that's why I hoped you'd never find out," Amber replied.

Richie and Amber then felt the presence of another Immortal and looked over at the doorway. There was Methos, he'd been watching them for some time. He quietly made his way into the room, not even saying a word until he was near them.

"How much have you heard?" Amber asked.

"Enough," Methos answered, "so I don't guess I have to ask what your decision is."

"There's nothing to decide, "Amber said, "Jeremy's staying with us until you can find someone and prove to us that they're good enough to have Jeremy in their care."

"I agree," Methos said.

"And another thing I don't…what?"

"I said I agree," Methos repeated, "I wouldn't risk leaving him with just anybody."

"Yeah right," Richie sneered.

"I'm serious, I'm as cautious as they come when it comes to this kid, and if you saw the three people I knew, lived and slept with two thousand years ago, you'd know why."

"What?" Amber asked, "You think there's someone else around here who smells like burnt flesh and steals babies?"

"Rotting flesh," Methos corrected her, "No, but I know in these cases what people to trust and which not to."

"So, what now?" Richie asked.

"Well now I recommend you get a shower, you smell like the garbage," Methos said.

"Methos…" Amber started.

"You too, you reek of gunpowder."

"That's because I had garlic and tuna last night," Amber explained.

"A lethal combination," Methos said, "Go on, you two make yourselves decent, I'll take care of Jeremy."

"What about Mac?" Richie asked.

"Let him get his own bath," Methos replied, "there's five bathrooms in this house so he can find one elsewhere."

"I mean, what's he decided about Jeremy?"

"Nothing for the time being, they're waiting for Connor's arrival," Methos explained.

"So for the time being, we're in the clear and Jeremy's safe with us," Amber said.

"That's the basic idea," Methos said, "now go on before the paint starts to peel."

Amber had drawn a hot bath and was settling into it, with much difficulty due to the heat, when Richie entered the room in a bathrobe, "Whoa, sorry!" He turned around and was halfway to the door.

"Get back here," she called, "You've seen me naked before and vice versa, so why should this come as any big surprise to you?"

Richie turned back around and said, "Well it's not…I just didn't think that you'd…"

"Please, I've nothing to be embarrassed about, especially since my breasts ain't got much to look at…go on, get your shower, I'll be out of here by then," Amber said.

Richie went over to the shower and turned on the hot water, as he untied his robe, Amber sunk below the surface and into the hot water. She waited a few seconds until she was sure Richie was in the shower before she surfaced again.

Richie was relaxing under the near-scalding hot water when he felt a draft as the curtain opened. He turned around and Amber stood right behind him, still covered in soap from the bath.

"Amber!"

"Richie, I just had a thought, what if they aren't waiting until Connor comes, what if they get rid of him?" Amber asked.

"What?" Richie asked, not understanding what she was getting at.

"How do we know Mac and Amanda won't do anything with Jeremy before Connor comes?" Amber asked, "We've never been in this position before, how do we know we can trust that Scottish bastard?"

"Hey, Mac is a lot of things but…"

"But nothing Richie, he's a bastard however you look at him, and quite frankly I'm tired of looking at him, I did enough of that this morning," Amber said, "Now what are we going to do if they do decide to have him taken away?"

"Amber, I'm just as worried about him as you are, but nothing's going to happen," Richie told her.

"Richie, if they had him taken away, I…I don't know what I'd do, I can't even guarantee that I wouldn't kill Duncan if he did that," Amber said.

"Don't say that!"

"I mean it Richie, Duncan knows that we'd protect him no matter what, but he wants to have Jeremy put in foster care…he knows what you went through there, why the hell would he want Jeremy to go through that?"

Tears rolled down Amber's face, the thought of having Jeremy removed from their home tore at Richie too, so he could understand her grief. He pulled her to him and held her close. "Listen to me Amber…I love Jeremy as much as you do and would die for him, you know that…I swear that I'm not going to allow anything to happen to him…we'll keep him as long as we can, we'll figure something out, I promise…everything's going to be allright…"

Richie and Amber entered Methos' bedroom and found he and Jeremy on the bed, with a scattered deck of cards in between them.

"What's going on here?" Richie asked.

"Well, Jeremy found some cards and didn't know what to do with them…so he started counting the number of clubs," Methos answered.

"What do you know, Richie?" Amber asked, "Sounds like we'll have another blackjack player in this house soon."

"So Methos, how is he?" Richie asked.

"Well he's hungry but I don't think he's up to seeing MacLeod again, just yet," Methos said, "So if you two can watch him for a minute, I'll slip down and get something for the four of us."

"No problem, Methos," Amber said.

Methos slipped out in the hall and down the backstairs.

"So Jeremy, you having fun with the card shark in this family?" Amber asked.

Jeremy looked at them and said nothing, but a large grin formed on his face.

"We have **got** to get this kid talking soon," Amber said, "the silence is driving me crazy."

"Really? I thought it was noisy enough with Mac blowing his top," Richie said.

"Mac I would like to sew his lips shut after what he said…Jeremy I wouldn't mind hearing from soon," Amber said.

Richie went over to the bed and sat down beside Jeremy, "And just what do you think he'll say when he first starts talking?"

"He'll probably cuss one of us out," Amber replied.

"Amber."

"Oh hell, Richie, that's what I'd do if I grew up in this family," Amber said.

"Nice talk for a church girl," Richie said sarcastically.

"Leave that out of this," Amber said, "I've had all the enlightenment about that for one lifetime that I can take."

"No problem."

Methos slowly made his way into the kitchen where both Duncan and Amanda were and noticed neither said or did anything as he entered the room.

"Well…you're not snapping my head off so I'm guessing there's not a problem here," Methos said.

"There's a problem allright," Amanda said.

"Don't tell me, let me guess…he's 30 inches tall, has curly red hair and has been living in this house for the past week," Methos said.

"Bingo."

"I don't see what the problem is," Methos said.

"You wouldn't," Duncan replied.

"Excuse me MacLeod, but until you've even been informed as to what has gone on in the past week I really don't think you have any ground to speak on," Methos said.

Duncan opened his mouth to respond but decided against it. Instead he asked, "Allright, what has gone on in the last week?"

"For one thing, what happened last week was a hell of a lot more than just any old felony. Richie didn't take Jeremy with him because he was desperate or because he was temporarily insane or because he's looking to wind up in prison. He did it because he saw a helpless child who needed help, who wasn't going to get it by the state, the social workers, the group home or anyone. He saw his life playing in front of his eyes, only this time, he had a chance to prevent what happened to him for twelve years, to happen Jeremy too. So while the police were taking his parents and half a dozen other crack heads and whores away, Richie saw his opportunity and brought Jeremy home with him.

"Now he knew right away that taking care of Jeremy would be no easy task and he'd probably end up doing it by himself, which is exactly what he was ready to do. If he had to, he was going to raise this kid by himself, regardless of what trouble he got himself into, that's how much he cares about him…but that wasn't going to happen…not at all, Amber agreed to help and she came and got me and we all agreed that we'd take care of Jeremy while he was staying with us."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Amanda asked.

"Because we knew that you would have this reaction. 'He needs to be in a foster home' 'he can't stay here', 'what were you thinking bringing him home?' Can you tell me any different?" Methos asked.

"Well…no," Amanda confessed.

"There you go," Methos said, "the first night he was here he was a mess, he didn't like being around all of us, he was pale and he looked like he hadn't eaten for days. Even without consulting the two of you, we've managed to bring him pretty far from that. You've seen him and he's about as healthy as they come, considering he's almost a six year old in pretty much a three-year-old body."

"Oh my God, really?" Amanda asked, "I didn't know he was that old, he just looks so young."

"That's because he's so small," Methos responded, "now…he doesn't really talk yet…but…"

"Wait, he's six years old and he doesn't talk yet?" Duncan asked.

"Not really," Methos admitted.

"Methos, do you know that if he doesn't learn to talk by…"

"By puberty, then he never will," Methos finished, "I know, I know, we've been through that already…now…they don't know this yet, but he's talking, just not very much…he wants to surprise them in the morning…they've been trying to get him to talk all week, this should really come as a relief to them…we don't really know what he went through in his last home, but from what we've gathered we've come to the conclusion that odds are his parents must've almost burnt into his mind that he has to be quiet…after many years of seeing families like this, I can say that that would just be the tip of the iceberg with his problems."

"Is he going to be allright?" Amanda asked.

"He's doing fine right now," Methos said, "because he's had the three of us looking out for him at all times since he came here."

"Methos, I can understand all that, but…but we're Immortal, what happens when we come in contact with another Immortal and we have to fight? How are we going to explain any of that to Jeremy?" Duncan asked.

"I don't think we'll have to," Methos said, "the kids know enough to head for Holy Ground if they're even near another Immortal. They'd be safe there, they know that, Jeremy would be safe with them…one of us is always with him so they'd never be able to take him."

"Unless you came across some Immortals that didn't go for the one on one rule," Amanda realized.

"Which is why for the past week when one of us is with Jeremy, it's not exactly one on one with us either," Methos explained, "at least one of us is always nearby the other when we head out, and at all times. We especially decided it was best after what happened a few days ago."

"Yes, what did happen?" Amanda asked.

"We went through all this last night," Methos groaned.

"I know, but try running it by me again, I listen better after sleeping through the night," Amanda said.

Methos groaned, "Amber took Jeremy to the hospital one night after he woke up screaming. There she met a lady who had a son roughly around Jeremy's age who looked almost exactly like him. They agreed to meet the next day and take the boys out, but after some common sense took over, Amber decided against it. Richie wasn't so willing to listen so he took Jeremy in her place, while they were there, someone distracted Richie while the lady tried to swap Jeremy with her own son and run before he could notice anything. But Amber had followed him and when his back was turned, she grabbed Jeremy and ran in the opposite direction from where the other lady ran. It was then that we realized that someone is dead serious about getting Jeremy back."

"I don't believe this," Duncan said, "and you still want to keep him here?"

"What's the worst they could do to us, MacLeod? Poison us? Torch us? Drown us? Break our bones? Perhaps build scaffold and hang us? That's fine with me, it wouldn't last long," Methos said.

"What if it's someone who knows about Immortals?" Amanda asked.

"It isn't, otherwise they would've tried to take our heads by now," Methos said. "Now look MacLeod, you know why Richie brought Jeremy here, you know how he did, you know who he recruited to help him, and you know for what reasons we didn't include you two in our plans, and you also know the progress that he's made since he came here, now if you still insist on handing him over to foster care…"

"We're waiting for Connor to come," Amanda said, "He's going to listen to all of us bellyache for two hours while we down bourbon and make complete and total fools of ourselves and then decide what we do next."

"And when should he be getting in?" Methos asked.

"Probably sometime tomorrow," Duncan answered.

"Well then…we have roughly around 24 hours until the final decision is made, I say we make the best of it. Because if Connor sides with you two, then we're going to have World War 3 on our hands."


	7. Chapter 7

"Can we see Jeremy?" Amanda asked.

"I'm not sure," Methos said.

"Methos, please, I just want to see him, get an idea of what we're going to be putting up with," Amanda said.

"He's really not any trouble to take care of," Methos said.

"I know, but…I just want to see him," Amanda said.

Richie came down the stairs and said, "What's going on?"

For a while, nobody said anything, but Duncan, Amanda and Methos all exchanged odd glances.

"They want to see Jeremy," Methos finally said.

"Well Amanda, go on and have a look," Richie said as he got off the stairwell.

"Thank you," Amanda said as she headed past the two men and up the stairs, Duncan was right behind her when they stopped him and Richie said, "Not you, Mac."

"Richie."

"Sorry but rules are rules," Methos said, "you should know that, MacLeod. Your whole life is rules."

"Richie…"

"If you want to see him you can do it when you have him put in a group home," Richie said, "but that will have to be over my dead body."

"Richie…please…Connor's going to be here tomorrow…"

"That's fine with me, but is everyone else? Or are you going to have Jeremy taken away before he gets here?" Richie asked.

"Richie, I wouldn't…"

"You wouldn't let him stay here even though we're the only people who have and probably ever will look out for him," Richie said.

"I still can't believe that he is six years old," Amanda said as she looked at Jeremy.

"I was a bit surprised myself when Richie first told me," Amber replied, "but I figure…who am I to judge? When I was ten I had to jump up to bite Richie in the knee."

"I can see why you'd want to have him here, he really seems to be a nice kid," Amanda said.

"Yeah, but I don't think he'd be too interested in meeting the Scottish hothead downstairs," Amber replied.

"What makes you say that?"

"Every time we mention his name, Jeremy gets uneasy, he looks like he did his first night here. He was very uncomfortable with all of us around, he squirmed around a lot and his eyes were wide and he just becomes a wreck. I know how it is, I used to get like that because of Mario after he…well after Mario."

"Amber, Duncan would never…"

"Well whether or not he would is pretty much irrelevant, we're not talking about what happened to me, we're talking about Jeremy…now I don't know that his old man was like him or what, all I know is I recognize that look anywhere and that is exactly what happens when he hears Mac's name…and probably with good reason."

"Amber don't start…"

"Amanda, give me a break, I've known him for…well for about a year and a half and I know what he's like, I know that he does not want Jeremy staying with us."

"You're right, he doesn't, but he also doesn't want Jeremy to get hurt."

"The hell you say," she said.

"Amber."

"Ah hell, I'm not going to be a hypocrite and tell Jeremy that he can't say what I say, and I'm also not going to hold my tongue just because he's a few years younger than I am," Amber said. "So what did you want to tell me? That I should let Duncan see him? That I should give him a chance? That I don't really know all about him that I should considering he is 408 years old and I wouldn't understand what he's trying to do? Or that I should just trust Duncan and be willing to go along with whatever he sees best? Because I will not do that, Amanda."

"I know you won't," Amanda said, "but as long as Jeremy's living here, you can't have him in the same house as a man who he's scared of. Maybe…maybe if Duncan got to see him, got a chance to talk to him…maybe Jeremy wouldn't always seem so scared of him. You have to admit, it's worth a try."

"It's not necessary, he doesn't have to see Duncan," Amber said, "he doesn't even have to know that he's on the same floor as he is. He didn't before and we can go back to that if we need to."

"Amber, what is your problem with Duncan?" Amanda asked, "Did he do something to make you mad at him?"

"It's not about what he did to me, it's about what he's doing to Richie, bringing Jeremy here was his idea and Mac wants to have him taken away because he always has to do the "right" thing," Amber said. "Dammit! I don't get him, you know? He's helped people for centuries, and never regretted it. Richie tries to do one thing right and Mac is just all over him for it…how many times has Richie had something going on in his life that he figured he could do something right without screwing it up? Methos has told me things about him that I have never even imagined, I can't believe it, it's like a curse. Every time Richie tries to help someone, something happens, every single time, something happens, something goes wrong. Did it have to happen yet again?"

"What're you talking about?" Amanda asked.

"Every time in his life, when Richie has tried to help someone, something always happens, something always goes wrong and he can't do it anymore. He tried to help a lady he knew who had a son whom he thought was his, did that work out? No. He found a lost and disoriented mentally retarded Immortal who he tried to help, did that work? No. Some pacifistic pussy-footer goes about spreading his message of peace and love to other Immortals, and Richie buys into it. Does that do him any good? HELL no. He saw what he thought to be Joe Dawson held at gunpoint by Horton, he goes to help Joe and that almost got him killed. EVERY TIME he tries to help someone and do something right, it never works…I hoped for his sake that this time with Jeremy, it would be different."

"I'll admit, things are different now but it doesn't always mean you have to do them by the book," Methos said, "For once MacLeod, think with your head instead of your arse."

"I am…I'm just not seeing any way that we can get through this one way or the other," Duncan said.

"Why?" Richie asked.

"Why do you think?" Duncan asked, "Richie, we can't keep him with us and we can't give him over to social services…how are we going to get out of this?"

"Did you ever think that maybe I don't want to get out of this? Maybe I knew what I was doing when I brought him home, maybe I know how to take better care of him than you would, maybe I don't have to be like you who has never been a father before. Maybe it's because it's the one thing I've gotten that you never did, did you think of that, Mac?"

No sooner had he finished, Duncan grabbed Richie by his neck and pinned him against the wall. "RICHIE!"

"MACLEOD!" Methos bellowed as he pulled Duncan off of him.

Richie moved out from his place in the wall, the plaster was cracked with a long line running halfway up the wall.

"Are you allright, kid?" Methos asked.

"Fine," Richie replied, rubbing his neck.

"What in the hell is going on down there?" Amanda called.

"Nothing!" Richie responded.

Richie turned and headed back up the stairs, Methos slapped Duncan in the back of the head.

"What was that for?" Duncan asked, turning around.

"What was the big idea of that?" Methos asked.

"Where does he come off saying that to me? I think of him as my own son, I treat him like it…"

"You treat him like a prisoner and you're the warden," Methos corrected, "In any case, I think he has a point. You've already gone through this once before."

Duncan remembered. "That was different, Richie thought the kid was his then, he knows better now."

"Yet he's still more of a father figure to this kid than his original ever could be," Methos said, "Isn't that interesting, MacLeod?"

"I've gone through all this with Richie before, Immortals can't have children, that's why none of us are parents," Duncan said.

"Not biologically no, but in a case like this," Methos said.

"Forget it, Jeremy isn't safe with us, he can't stay here and he won't, I'll see to that myself," Duncan said.

"Well what are you going to do, MacLeod?" Methos asked, "He's already been here a week, I think it's a bit late to turn him in to the police now."

"I already went through this with Amanda…"

"Yes and I'm sure whatever it is it is a crappy idea, how about letting me figure something out?" Methos asked.

"You've been doing that for a week and look what's happened," Duncan said.

"Look MacLeod, you come up with an idea that won't get you knocked out and we'll talk, until then," Methos turned around and headed up the stairs.

"How is he?" Methos asked.

"I'm not sure," Richie replied, "it seems he's become a…a…what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Every time he hears…well…the name of the Scottish bastard downstairs, he acts weird," Amber explained.

"Weird? Like what?" Methos asked.

"Methos I wouldn't…"

"How bad could it be?" Methos asked.

"You're asking for it."

"What does Duncan think we should do?" Amanda asked.

Methos thought for a minute that Amanda was trying to change the subject, but he looked down and saw that Jeremy had huddled into a corner, eyes wide with fear and he was twitching and whimpering like a hurt animal.

"How did…he never even saw him until last night, how can mentioning his name have an effect like this on the kid?" Methos asked.

"We're not sure ourselves," Amber replied.

"But now you see, it's not a good idea to bring his name up," Amanda said, "otherwise that's going to happen again."

Richie knelt down and picked Jeremy up and took him over to the bed to sit down with him all while talking soothingly to him.

"I swear, Richie would've made a great father if he weren't Immortal," Amber said.

"He seems to be doing fine now," Amanda said.

"I'm not talking about that…I'm talking if he could actually have a kid…be a biological father…he would've made a damn good one if you ask me."

"I agree," Methos said, "Odd enough, MacLeod and I were just having a similar conversation downstairs."

"And how did that go over?" Amanda asked.

"Not so well, I told him nothing he said would have any effect on anyone until he came up with an idea that was actually worth something," Methos said.

"And then?"

"And then I came up, and you know what happens from there," Methos told her.

"Hey Methos, tell me something, how long do you think Mac's going to be willing to go along with having Jeremy in the house?" Amber asked.

"I'm not sure," Methos said, "My guess would be however long Connor's going to think is good."

"And when's Connor coming?" Amber asked.

"Our guess is around this time tomorrow," Methos answered.

"So what're we supposed to do in the meantime?" Richie asked.

"What I suggested earlier, we keep our mouths shut about the whole thing, and we look after Jeremy for the time being, just as we would've anyway," Amanda said.

Amanda and Methos left the room so they could discuss something in private, leaving the three of them alone.

"For some reason, I have a bad feeling about this," Richie said.

"I know, but look on the bright side…now it's three and a half of us looking out for him," Amber said as she went over to the bed.

"Three and a half?"

"Yeah, you, me, Methos, and Amanda's partially on our side as well," Amber answered.

"Amber…I know I've gotten you pretty far into this but…"

"You haven't gotten me into anything, you gave me the choice from the beginning whether or not I'd be a part of it and I decided I would be…now what're you thinking?" Amber asked.

"Well…I don't want Jeremy to go to foster care," Richie said.

"Neither do I."

"I know but…I'm starting to wonder if we can keep him here with us."

"Now you're starting to sound like…like him."

"I know but Amber, think about it…there's five Immortals living in this house, what do Immortals attract? Other Immortals, and what do they do? They fight to the death."

"Not necessarily, look at us, there's five of us in this house, we don't try to kill each other," Amber said.

"But other Immortals aren't like us, they want to finish the Game and they want the Prize and they don't care what Immortal they go through to get it."

"Well I'm not going to lose to any Immortal," Amber said.

"That's what I thought…" Richie said.

"And you didn't."

"Yeah, but I almost did, on several occasions," Richie said.

"But you didn't, and that's all that matters, you're here now, and a good thing too, you found someone who needs you," Amber told him.

"I know but…what if he's right? What if we can't keep him here?" Richie asked.

"Then we'll move, and we won't have to tell him," Amber said, "we can pack up in the middle of the night and get out of here like that," she snapped her fingers.

"And go where?" Richie asked, "Belize?"

"Sure, it's nice out there, it's got only one minor illness ever to be caught and it's just like Hawaii without the volcanoes. Plus there's a lot of people recruiting down there to start home schooling their kids. Probably a lot of them around Jeremy's age too, we can go before anyone tries to hold us for kidnapping, then by the time they did, it'd be too late to do anything about it," Amber explained.

"You're not serious…"

"Hey Richie, it's however far you're willing to go to protect Jeremy that I'm going right along with you…you think we should keep him, we will, you think we should skip the country and head somewhere the law can't touch us, we will, you wanna…stay here and be the father to him you never could be to your own kid, you got it already…" Amber said.

"I know but…"

Jeremy squirmed out of Richie's arms and over to Amber, she looked over and saw Richie's body tensing up. Methos had told her of an incident from a few years back that involved a woman Richie had a relation with and she left soon after, only to return with her year-and-a-half old son, whom she swore was Richie's. For a while Richie was thrilled about having the chance to be a father, but then, like always, things took a turn for the worse. That was probably what brought up all of these second thoughts with Richie. Knowing that the good thing he had going in his life now wouldn't last, something would happen.

"Look Richie…I'm not too sure I go for this whole idea of every single thing that's going to happen in your life is going to happen exactly like that…that's why there's change, that's why things always happen for no reason…but that's also why I live for the day, because I never know when it's going to change. And that was great, always living on the edge, wondering when the day would come that…it'd be the last day…and always risking death, we loved that, but now…we have Jeremy to look after."

"Yeah, it's harder to live for the day when you have a kid to look after," Richie grinned.

"But that's just it, having Jeremy here…is living for the day, because we don't know what's going to happen to him or what's going to happen to us. That's something that biological parents overlook, they think they'll have their kids with them forever but it doesn't always work that way…so we need to enjoy the time with him that we have."

It was then that they felt the presence of another Immortal, they looked over in the doorway and saw Duncan. Amber shifted her weight on the bed to grab her sword as Duncan approached them.

"That won't be necessary," he said.

Amber's hand was merely inches from her sword, but she drew back, "What do you want?"

"I want to see Jeremy, is that so surprising?" Duncan asked.

"What do you think?" Amber asked.

"I think I've been an ass about this whole thing," Duncan said.

"You certainly have been," Richie agreed.

"Well…I'd like to see him…I'd like to…start over."

"I think it's a bit late for that," Amber said.

"I know…but I'd like to make peace between you, and help you with Jeremy, is it too late for that?" Duncan asked.

"I don't know," Amber replied, "Jeremy, say hello to Duncan MacLeod."

Duncan expected Jeremy to look up at him, but instead he curled into a fetal ball in between Richie and Amber.

"I see I've caused a lot of trouble for everyone," Duncan said.

"You certainly have," Amber replied.

"You two have every right to be angry with me."

"Good, cuz we are," Richie said.

Duncan looked down at Jeremy, he was whimpering and shaking as if he was expecting to be hit. Somehow, Duncan got an odd feeling of déjà vu, as if he'd gone through this before. Without saying a word, he turned around and quietly left the room.

"Well that was weird," Richie said.

"It's Mac," Amber replied, "What do you expect?"

Amber gathered Jeremy in her arms and spoke soothingly to him to calm him down. Richie looked at him and saw for the first time that he actually had something he'd given up on…a family.

"What could I do?" Duncan asked, "He obviously didn't want me there."

"Well what do you expect?" Amanda asked, "You've gotten the reputation as the giant green grouch around here, you really think they'd be happy about having you in the room?"

"I just thought…"

"If you tried to make peace with them and show them that you were okay with it, then everything would work out, is that it?" Amanda asked.

"Yes."

"It doesn't work that way, Duncan," Amanda said.

"I know…I just couldn't believe how Jeremy reacted when he heard my name…it was weird, it was like I was reliving something that had happened a long time ago…I have to say, the whole experience sucked."

"Maybe that's because Jeremy is a spitting image of a younger Richie, and we all know what he went through in foster care, and that is exactly what Jeremy seems to have gotten used to in his real home," Methos said.

"I guess," Duncan replied, "I just feel awful about what's happened."

"Yeah…well think about how bad everyone's going to feel tomorrow if it turns out Connor **does** think Jeremy should go to foster care," Amanda said.

"Oh my God," Duncan moaned, "I forgot about that…Connor, he's…"

"Too much like you for anybody's good," Methos said, "He shares a lot of the same opinions and views and ideas, and if he does in fact recommend it, nobody is going to have a peaceful night's rest because then we'll all be sleeping with one eye open, in fear that those two brats are going to kill us all in our beds."

"At least someone's still a cynic around here," Amanda sighed.

"It's what I do best," Methos said.

"Well…what if Connor doesn't think he should go to foster care? Then what?" Amanda asked, "Our options are running out."

"I don't know," Duncan said, "We'll just have to see what happens…"

"Maybe I'm missing something here," Methos chimed in, "but when did you go from being a drill sergeant and a police officer, to being a willing parent?"

"I don't know," Duncan said, "I think I just realized I've been an ass since I found out he's been here for a whole week and I never knew."

"If it were me, I'd probably be thrilled I didn't know," Methos said.

"So what're you saying? You think it was a mistake?" Duncan asked.

"I'm not saying that."

"So what are you saying?" Amanda asked.

"Nothing for the time being," Methos replied, "we'll wait until Connor gets here and then we'll decide what to do."

Richie placed the tank of water onto the humidifier and turned it on, it would be night soon, and they weren't going to risk a repeat of last night.

"How's he doing?" Richie asked.

"Well he ate the mashed potatoes and the baked chicken, but…"

"But?"

"He won't eat the broccoli…smart kid," Amber said.

"Very funny," Richie said.

"Eh, you know how kids are…I don't eat the stuff myself," Amber said.

"I know you don't, you're setting a bad example for him," Richie told her.

"Hey, if I don't like it, I won't eat it and it's the same with him, he shouldn't have to eat something if he can't stand it," Amber said.

"So…" Richie said, "Connor's coming tomorrow."

"I know, I've doused some arrows in kerosene for his arrival," Amber said.

"Amber."

"Don't go getting your boxers in a bundle," Amber said, "you're worse than Mac."

"Well…what happens if Connor decides that Jeremy shouldn't stay with us?" Richie asked.

"Then he'll stay with us, but we won't stay with them," Amber said.

"You're still for crossing the boarder, huh?" Richie asked.

"If that's what it takes," Amber replied.

"I agree," Richie said.

"But…he's not supposed to be here for another nineteen hours, so I say we enjoy the time without him. Because after he hears all our views of this whole case, it should only take him about ten seconds to decide what's going to happen."

"You think he'll decide against us?" Richie asked.

"It's a possibility."

"Or do you think he'll actually side with us?" Richie asked.

"That's a possibility too."

"Or do you think maybe he won't know what to decide and he'll stay on the fence?" Richie asked.

"There's always a chance of that happening too."

"Well which do you think it will be?" Richie asked.

"Okay look, odds are there are three possibilities of what he'll say, either he's for it, against it, or can't reach a conclusion. Two of those possibilities would work in our favor, so the major percentage of the gamble to the outcome of this situation would equal good news. Meaning that the odds of us actually getting some good news tomorrow is about 66 out of 100. But there's always a chance that the smaller percentage could surface to bite us in the ass."

"And what does this all mean?" Richie asked.

"The same thing it would mean in any situation, the matter of the outcome is a sheer gamble and the only way to be sure of what it's going to be, is to wait it out and see what Connor's going to say, but I'm not going to spend the next 19 hours getting an ulcer. We'll make the best of the time we have left and when he gets here, then we worry for ten minutes, but in the meantime I'm going to pack," Amber said as she crawled under her bed.

"What for?" Richie asked.

"Just incase Connor does side with his hotheaded student, it'll save us time and even if he doesn't, we can just open our bags and throw our belongings all over the room like we always do," Amber replied.

"Good point," Richie realized. Richie looked up and saw Jeremy sitting on the edge of the bed, reaching for Richie's sword.

"Whoa! Whoa little man!" Richie said as he made a beeline over to Jeremy, "No you don't."

Richie grabbed Jeremy and Jeremy started putting up a fight, squirming under Richie's grasp and kicking him.

"What's he doing?" Amber asked.

"He's…never mind…I don't think you'd believe me if I told you."

There was a knock at the door, Amanda came in and made her way over to the bed, "Richie, are you busy?"

"A bit, yes," Richie replied as he continued to get kicked, "did you want something?"

"Duncan wants to see Jeremy," Amanda said.

At the mention of Duncan's name, Jeremy let go and dropped to the floor and dove under the bed.

"Well obviously Jeremy doesn't want to see him," Richie replied.

"Richie, I know you're mad at him," Amanda said.

"You're damn right I am," Richie said.

"We all are, Richie's mad at him, Methos is fuming at him, I hate him," Amber said.

"Amber, that's not nice to say about him," Amanda said.

"Think I care?" Amber asked, "What he's suggesting we do ain't nice either."

"He's changed his mind, he wants to see Jeremy, to get acquainted with him," Amanda said, "to find out what kind of a kid he's like."

"He knows what kind of a kid he's like," Richie replied, "one who's been ignored and abused for six years."

"And he wants Jeremy to back to the same kind of treatment," Amber added.

"Amber, can't you be nice for one night?" Amanda asked.

Amber thought for a minute, "…No."

"I'm getting tired of all this feuding between everyone. Can we at least for one night try to get along?" Amanda asked.

"I don't know," Amber replied.

"Amber, for God's sake…"

Amber slapped Amanda across the face, "You don't talk that way in front of Jeremy…"

Amanda rubbed her cheek, "Amber…all I'm asking for is one night, just a few hours, and then it's all over."

"Fine…but if Jeremy doesn't get any sleep tonight it'll be on your heads," Amber said.

"Now remember MacLeod, no sudden movements, no loud outbursts, and no turning into your father," Methos said.

"What's wrong with my father?" Duncan asked.

Methos heard the others coming down the stairs, "Never mind."

Amanda entered the room first with Richie right behind her, and Jeremy clinging to his leg, Amber stood behind them, as if ready to attack.

"Well look who's here," Methos said.

Methos slapped his knee and said, "Come over here, Jeremy."

Jeremy saw Duncan sitting beside Methos on the couch and looked up at Richie. Richie nodded and Jeremy let go of his leg and started over to the couch. Methos picked Jeremy up and sat him in his lap and started speaking to him in gibberish baby talk and cooing.

"Oh great," Amanda said, "Five thousand years of learning ancient languages and his most intellectual conversation is in baby talk."

"You know something, Richie?" Amber asked.

"What?"

"I think Methos would've made a damn good father if he could've had kids," Amber said.

"He seems to be doing a great job now," Richie pointed out.

Methos whispered something in Jeremy's ear that Duncan couldn't hear. At first, Jeremy looked at Methos as if he'd heard wrong, but the look on Methos' face assured him he'd heard right. So Jeremy got up and went over to Duncan, and put his arms around Duncan's stomach and sat on his lap.

"Hello Jeremy," Duncan said.

Jeremy said nothing and looked down at the floor. Duncan took Jeremy in his arms and lightly stroked his head as he talked soothingly to the child.

"Oh great, they've bonded," Richie whined.

"Well Richie, we've got fourteen hours until Connor gets here," Amber said later that night, "I'd say things have gone well so far."

"I guess so…you know," Richie said, "it was pretty interesting seeing Duncan with Jeremy, don't you think?"

"You can't go by me," Amber said, "I have a better time watching a guy in jail cuss out the officer."

"Me too but…you have to admit, Mac would've made a great father."

"I highly doubt that," Amber said.

"How come?" Richie asked.

"How long did you live with him before you became Immortal?" Amber asked.

"Sometime over a year I guess, why?" Richie asked.

"How was he during that time?"

"Eh, easy-going, charming, moody, bossy, pushy, domineering, I get your point," Richie said.

"Like I said, Methos would've made a great father," Amber said.

"How do you know that?" Richie asked.

"Because he has enough patience to put up with all of us, furthermore, he's been in our positions many times before so he knows what it's like, besides, you saw the way he acted with Jeremy earlier…he's a natural."

"I guess it helps when you have 5,000 years of experience in everything," Richie said.

"Perhaps," Amber replied.

The clock struck 10, Jeremy was already asleep on top of Richie's bed, leaving Amber and Richie with some time to themselves.

"Well," Amber said, "I'd like to propose a toast."

Amber reached into a small cooler and took out two cans of Red Bull.

"Isn't this the stuff that gets you so up and hyper you have to take crack to get down from it?" Richie asked.

"So what?" Amber asked, "Considering the mood we've been in lately, we could use some lightening up…besides, I like what it does, it's…I don't know, I guess it's kinda like getting high, only I don't want to come down…and I know you don't either, the way everything's going."

"In fourteen hours we'll know whether we're staying here or skipping the country," Richie said as he popped open a can.

"Yep…so for now, here's to old friends and new, to good times that actually make this extended life worth living, to Immortality and anti-fertility, and to the family we've become, the family we have, and the family we've been given."

"I'll drink to that," Richie said.

They clinked the cans and drank, and somehow managed not to spit.

"I have a feeling though, that you'd drink to anything," Amber said.

"You know me all too well," Richie commented as he wiped his mouth, "So what do we do now?"

"Well it takes about half an hour for this stuff to kick in…and since Connor's coming tomorrow I really don't feel like sleeping tonight, so…I don't know, just do what we normally do I suppose."

"Fine with me," Richie said.

"So Richie…"

"Yeah?"

"Methos tells me that several years ago you thought you were the father of this kid, a…a…"

"Methos told you about Donna?" Richie asked.

"He's told me about mostly everything, Donna, Felicia, Kristen, the only thing he hasn't told me is if you bend the other way," Amber replied, "but I digress…so even back then the kid wasn't yours."

"That's right."

"What if he was?" Amber asked.

"What?"

"What if he were your kid?" Amber asked.

"Then I would've done what I originally had planned to do," Richie said.

"It was probably good at the time, huh?" Amber asked.

"What?"

"Having a family…not one that tells you what to do, but one that you're part of."

"Yeah…yeah it was nice," Richie said.

"And it's probably better this time since the situation is different," Amber said.

"Everything's different this time."

"And come this time tomorrow night, things could be a whole lot more different for us," Amber said, "by then we might find ourselves half-way to Belize."

"Well, we'll just cross that bridge when we get there," Richie said.

"Literally."


	8. Chapter 8

Richie was and had been asleep for several hours. Nothing seemed to have any effect in waking him since nothing seemed to have disturbed his sleep. It was six thirty in the morning and the sun was already shining through the windows. Jeremy stumbled into the room quietly, he made his way over to Richie's bed and climbed on top until his face was inches away from Richie's, and he bellowed, "GOOD MORNING DADDY!"

Richie's eyes flew open as he shot up, only to be greeted by Jeremy.

"Jeremy," he said as he straightened out in the bed, "Are you trying to wake me up or give me a heart attack?"

Amber came through the bedroom doorway at that time, "Isn't it great that he's talking now?"

"Yeah, wonderful," Richie said, "when did he start?"

"Beats me," Amber replied, "I went in the bathroom an hour ago to wash my hair in mouth wash and he comes in and says "hi mommy", I love this kid."

"Great, does anyone else know that…wait a minute…" Richie looked around and realized that he was in bed, "When did I go to sleep?"

"About three."

"And what time is it now?" Richie asked.

"Six thirty."

"Meaning we have five and a half hours until Connor comes," Richie realized.

"Smart boy," Amber said.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Richie said.

"Now Richie, calm down, you've known Connor longer than I have, do you really think he'd recommend Jeremy be put in a group home?" Amber asked.

"I honestly don't know, the matter never came up," Richie said.

"Yeah well…when he does come, there won't be any immediate reason to worry," Amber said.

"How do you figure that?" Richie asked.

"Where's Amber?" Amanda asked.

"Where do you think?" Richie asked, "It's Sunday, she went to church."

"Did she take Jeremy with her?" Amanda asked.

"No Amanda, she left him here so Mac can yell at him…of course she took him with her," Richie said.

"And you didn't go with them?"

"I'm not much of a church person," Richie said.

"So we've noticed," Methos said.

"Now Methos, when Connor gets here, you're going to behave yourself, right?" Amanda asked.

Methos thought for a minute, "…No mommy."

"Methos, what am I going to do with you?" Amanda asked.

Methos thought again, "Spank me, mommy."

"A tempting offer but I'll have to pass," Amanda said, "now Richie, do you remember what you're supposed to do when he gets here?"

"Yes Amanda," Richie huffed.

"Allright, what did I say?" Amanda asked.

"Don't make a scene, don't do anything to cause any trouble, and don't let anyone bite Connor," Richie said.

"Right."

At that time, Duncan came down the stairs looking half awake, and half dead.

"Good morning, Duncan, sleep well?" Amanda asked.

"Well I was, until I got a call from Joe," Duncan said.

"What's wrong?" Amanda asked.

"It seems that lately there's been a lot of Immortals winding up dead in the area…they think it's all by the same Immortal but they're not sure."

"Who?"

The church service had just let out and Amber and Jeremy headed out of the church and back over to her car. There had been a lot of attendants for the service, so she had to park down the road near the Eternal Serenity cemetery.

"Well Jeremy, we've got a couple of hours to kill before Connor arrives, what do you think? You think we should go home or find something else to do?" Amber asked as they headed out to her car.

"Some-fing else," Jeremy replied.

Just as they were about to get in, Amber stopped in her tracks when she felt the buzz of another Immortal. She looked and saw him; he was near seven feet tall, full of bulging muscles, with long black hair and a scar going down his right temple. He was dressed in pure black leather and didn't appear to be carrying a sword; all the same, Amber saw no reason in risking a life. She grabbed Jeremy and ran the other way into the cemetery; she could only hope that this Immortal remembered the rule of Holy Ground. They stopped about fifty feet in from the entrance, they turned around, and the man was still following them. The man stopped ten feet away from them and stared at them for the longest time.

There was a strong silence between them, after what seemed like an eternity, the silence broke when the man started laughing.

"I guess he sees death as being something hysterical," Amber guessed aloud.

"Hello there!" he said in a deep voice.

Amber didn't know what to say, she just stood there staring at the man for a few minutes. Finally her knees gave out and she fell to the ground. The man went over to her to help her up, but she didn't take his act of kindness likely, when he tried to grab her to help her to her feet, she swung her legs up and kicked him. He pinned her legs down, grabbed her by the arms and pulled her to her feet.

"Who are you?" Amber asked.

The man cocked his head sideways and smiled at her with a full sharp-tooth grin. He answered, "Shane."

"Shane…" Amber repeated, "what the hell kind of name is that?"

"I don't know."

"Well what do you want?" Amber asked.

Shane took Amber's hand in his and cut across it with a knife, "You're like me," he said.

Amber looked as the cut healed itself, she then realized that this man was an Immortal new to the Game. Obviously he was overenthusiastic about it since it appeared that he didn't know many if any other Immortals, meaning it was unlikely that he had a teacher yet, and was not concerned about a battle.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Amber Jenzon."

Shane looked over and saw Jeremy, who seemed petrified, and didn't seem to know whether to run, or attack.

"Is he your son?" Shane asked.

"So some new Immortal is running around taking victims left and right, is that it?" Richie asked.

"Not quite," Duncan replied, "From what they've gathered, he appears to be a "new" Immortal who is still new to the Game and doesn't realize quite what he is. He makes other Immortals believe that he doesn't know what he is and then he takes their heads."

"And considering how many present Immortals and soon-to-be Immortals we have here in the area," Richie said, "I'd say this guy whoever he is has got his work cut out for him."

"I just hope he doesn't run into anyone we know," Methos said.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Duncan said, "Connor's coming straight here from the airport when they land."

"Not Connor you ass!" Methos said, "Amber went out with Jeremy over two hours ago, they haven't come back yet, for all we know they've come across this guy and God knows what's happened if that's the case!"

"Oh my God," Duncan said, "I forgot they'd gone out."

"You forgot?" Methos spat, "Oh yeah, MacLeod, real fucking fine father figure you turned out to be."

"I'll go see if I can find them," Richie said.

"Richie, sit down!" Duncan ordered.

"I'm not listening to you anymore, all you've done is give us trouble since this whole thing with Jeremy got out in the open," Richie said, "if I want advice that'll get me killed, THEN I'll come to you."

Richie went out the door, got on his bike, kick started it and took off.

"I don't believe this," Duncan said.

"What?" Amanda asked.

"Even when I try to do something right around here it just comes back to get screwed up again," Duncan said.

"Now you know how it feels being the kid in a situation with parents," Amanda said, "no matter what, they always screw up."

"So you never knew your father?" Amber asked.

"No," Shane replied, "he left shortly after I was conceived, but before my mother knew."

"Maybe it was for the better," Amber said, "Sometimes these biological fathers aren't worth a damn, you know?"

"Yeah," Shane answered.

"I mean, I have this roommate, he never knew his real father but…he had a foster mother when he was four that really took care of him, he thought she was his real mother, she was still married but the guy left before she died. Then he met this schmuk who said he was his father, he wasn't worth anything either."

"What about you?" Shane asked.

"My parents were killed when I was twelve, they were married, had been for many years. They were great…but then this Immortal, Mario Venvetta killed them and made it look like an accident."

"Is he still around?"

"No, I killed him little over a year and a half ago," Amber replied.

"Good."

"Yeah, it was really good for me because I'd been waiting to kill that son of a bitch for four years. After what he did to me I tried everything short of drugs to forget, to black out and forget the pain…"

"He deserved to die," Shane said.

"I like to think so," Amber said, "so…what were you doing here?"

"You were here," Shane answered.

"I know I was here, what's that have to do with anything?" Amber asked.

"Why were you here?" Shane asked.

"Well…see I was at the church up there, and…it's a very popular church, with the accurate message you know…and it's got a lot of people here every day and Sunday…it's always a big hit, and there were so many people here I had to park my car down here," Amber explained, "why did you come after me?"

"I wanted to talk to someone for a while," Shane said, "you're like me so I thought it would be easy…since that's done, I'm going to see Rachel."

Amber stopped at the mention of Rachel's name. She knew of a couple of girls at the university who had that name, but they never mentioned him. "Who's Rachel?" Amber asked.

Shane turned to face her and said nothing.

"Who is Rachel?" Amber repeated.

Shane led her over to the lower left section of the cemetery with Jeremy right at her side.

"Mommy, where are we going?" he asked.

"I'm not sure yet, sweetheart," she replied.

Shane stopped and pointed to a grave near the beginning of a row. There was a short tombstone at the top. Most graves had tall tombstones or headstones or regular tombstones large enough for a name and the dates and a message at the bottom. This one was just big enough to read:

Rachel Kruger

1980 – 1998

Another Young One Lost 

Amber wasn't sure what to think for a minute, she looked up at Shane and said, "Your sister?"

"My girlfriend," he corrected.

"Did her parents kill her for dating a 21-year-old man?" Amber asked.

"No," Shane replied, "she was killed in an accident."

"I'm sorry," Amber said.

Amber noticed a wrapped bouquet of red poppies on top of the grave.

"Did you…"

"I bring flowers to her everyday," Shane said, "she always loved them. She said shortly after we met that she wanted to run away to a beach house a few miles from her house, where hundreds of different flowers grew. I asked her to wait, she said she'd runaway when she was 17, I said no, wait another year, she did, she said she wanted to take off in the middle of the night to go, I said no, wait until you're twenty, and we have an idea of what we're doing. I don't know why the wait was so important to me."

"Why did she want to leave?" Amber asked.

"Family…"

"What happened when she died?" Amber asked.

"Hit and run," Shane answered, "her neck was broken and she sustained several injuries to the head…died almost instantly."

Amber took another look at the grave, she could only imagine what kind of funeral had been held. She looked back at the tombstone and realized the epitaph was written differently than the name and the dates.

"Did her parents arrange the epitaph?" Amber asked.

"All they wanted was her name and the dates, I added that," Shane explained.

"I'm guessing her parents didn't want you at the funeral," Amber said.

"They started to make a deal of it, but I told them unless they wanted the whole town to know what kind of people they really were, that they drove her out of the house the night she died, that they'd shut up and let me stay."

"Did they?" Amber asked.

"Not willingly…they don't even come to see her, I see her every day," Shane said.

"Do you live nearby?" Amber asked.

"Yes…I live nearby, but I sleep here."

Amber was sure she'd heard wrong. "You sleep here at the cemetery?"

"That's right," Shane pointed near the fence, "right under that elm tree. In fact, I was about to turn in when I saw you."

"Oh…we better get going," Amber said.

"If you're out tonight, I'll be glad to see you again," Shane said, "I don't know many people."

"Tonight I might be gone," Amber said.

"On business?"

"There's a man coming to my house at noon, if he decides Jeremy's going away then I'm running away and taking him with me and heading to Belize. That way if they hold me for kidnapping, they won't be able to touch me."

"Who's this man?" Shane asked.

"Connor MacLeod."

"Doesn't ring a bell," Shane said.

"Does Russell Nash?"

"No," Shane answered.

"That's his alias…see, Connor MacLeod lived and died hundreds of years ago, so he took the name of someone who died a minute and a half after being born and assumes the identity of that person, living in this day and age, that way Immortals don't think too much to look for him," Amber said, "but you'll realize that as you go on in the Game."

"How bout you?" Shane asked.

"I've only been Immortal for over a year, it's too early for me to change my name," Amber replied.

"How 'bout your roommate?"

"He's gone through one in Paris, here it's okay cuz no one's ever heard of him," Amber said.

"You'll still use your real name in Belize?" Shane asked.

"I…sure…I've never been there, nobody knows me," Amber said.

"Well then…whether or not you skip the country, I'd like to see you again. I'd like to learn more about Immortals and the game."

"Kid," Amber said, "you wanna learn about the Game then you'll have to ask my other roommate, he's…never mind…you better get to sleep, meantime I have to go home and eat some crow. I'll see if I can come by here again…what time do you wake up?" Amber asked.

"When the sun sets," Shane answered.

"I'll see what happens," Amber said, "Come on, Jeremy."

Amber took Jeremy's hand and they headed to the gates. Amber looked back and saw Shane kneel down beside Rachel's grave and talk for a minute, then he went over to the elm tree, laid down beside the trunk and went to sleep. Amber turned back around and they headed out the gates and back over to her car. She felt the presence of another Immortal as Richie's bike stopped right beside her car. He ripped off his helmet and shrieked, "Amber are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, what's wrong, Richie? Is Connor here yet?" Amber asked.

"No…but…listen, we gotta talk, there's a new Immortal running around and he's killing off other Immortals left and right," Richie said, "We didn't know where you were and we…"

"Calm down Richie…is this going to take a while to explain?" Amber asked.

"Yes," Richie huffed as he gasped to catch his breath.

"Allright," Amber opened the door on the passenger side, "Jeremy, hop in, we'll go someplace no one will bother us and you can tell me there what's going on."

Jeremy climbed into the passenger seat and Amber slammed that door, then dashed over to the other side, climbed in, started the ignition and they took off.

Amber led Richie to an abandoned house on a less populated street. They crept in through a broken window on the side of the house and headed over to what used to be a living room and sat down at a round table. The house had been condemned two years before when the body of a young girl was found, and the owner of the house was arrested. But that didn't stop Amber from entering the place; it was there that Richie explained what they had acknowledged earlier that day.

"So you see, Amber…this guy goes around claiming that he's a new Immortal who recently died. He doesn't have a teacher and doesn't know much about Immortals or the Game, then when the other Immortal's guard is down, he kills them."

"Any idea if he bears a resemblance to the Immortal, the Kurgan?" Amber asked.

"We don't know what he looks like yet, why?" Richie asked.

"No reason…so that's why you came all the way out to the graveyard for?" Amber asked.

"Well yeah," Richie said, "I had to make sure you two were allright, I mean…you're my family, I gotta look after you."

"I appreciate that Richie," Amber said, "what time is it?"

"About eleven."

"Allright, we've got an hour until fate's decided. Let's go," Amber said.

"Home?" Richie asked.

"No, let's go get a pizza, it might be the last meal the three of us have together," Amber replied.

"Okay Richie, goodbye," Duncan placed the telephone receiver back on top of the switch hook and put the phone back on the table.

"Well?" Amanda asked.

"They're fine," Duncan said, "Richie found them by a cemetery near the church, he explained what's going on and they'll be home soon."

"Well that's good," Amanda said, "for someone who can't get a heart attack I feel like I've gone through five already."

"And where's Methos?" Duncan asked.

"Preparing for Connor's arrival, he's stuffing a knife up his sleeve and a pistol in his pocket."

"That's not funny."

"Duncan…"

"Yes?"

"What do you think Connor will decide?" Amanda asked.

"I'm not sure, I'm still not sure what all our options are," Duncan said, "but I'll tell you, now that there's this Immortal on the loose, I feel even less comfortable with having Jeremy in the same house with us."

"I know, but we can't just get rid of him," Amanda said.

"I know."

"Duncan…"

"What?"

"What if Connor does decide Jeremy should go to a foster home?"

"Then Jeremy will go to a foster home," Duncan said.

"Duncan, that's not fair to him."

"I know, but it's also not fair to him to stay here where he could be kidnapped or murdered."

"I know that, but Duncan, isn't there someone else we could send him to? Maybe Joe…"

"Joe couldn't take care of him…he has enough trouble taking care of himself."

"Well don't you know any mortal friends?" Amanda asked.

"Yes but I don't trust any of them with Jeremy…it's not that they can't be trusted, it's just that I wouldn't want to risk their lives," Duncan said.

"Well what else are we going to do?" Amanda asked.

"You sound like an expecting mother," Duncan said, "so let's act like it. Let's say the choice is yours, what do you want to do?"

"Honestly?" Amanda asked, "I want to keep Jeremy."

"You can't be serious," Duncan said.

"I am…I want to keep him because I don't trust anyone else looking after him," Amanda replied.

"I know," Duncan said, "but we have to do something."

"So…are you still thinking about going to Belize tonight?" Richie asked.

"If Connor decides against us," Amber said.

"You think he will?" Richie asked.

"Anything's possible," Amber said.

"I figured you'd say we just gotta have faith," Richie said.

"Right about now I'm of very little faith," Amber replied.

"Whatever happens," Richie decided, "the three of us are still going to be together."

"Damn right," Amber said.

"Mommy," Jeremy said, "can we go now?"

"Sure…" Amber said, "the place is giving me indigestion anyway."

Richie got on his bike and Amber and Jeremy got in her car and they headed for home.

"Well Connor, first of all let me thank you for coming," Duncan said.

"You didn't seem too thrilled about the idea when Amber called me," Connor said.

"I know but now everything's gone crazy and we really need someone who knows what they're doing," Duncan replied.

Connor and Duncan entered the house where Amanda and Methos awaited them.

"Hello Connor," Amanda said.

"Hello, Amanda…Methos, nice to see you."

"Wish I could say the same," Methos said.

"Allright, I know there's a lot of crossed emotions right now but," Connor said, "I came here so we can get to the bottom of this. Providing everyone can keep themselves from strangling one another we should have no problem, understood?"

"Yes," they replied.

They heard Amber and Richie pull in, and after a few seconds they came in the front door.

"Great," Amber said, "Attila the Hun's here."

"Allright Amber, Richie, everybody just sit down," Connor said.

Richie went ahead of Amber and she followed right behind him with Jeremy holding her hand.

"Hello Jeremy," Connor said.

"Who are you?" Jeremy asked.

"I…I'm Connor, I'm here to help," Connor said.

Jeremy clung close to Amber, she picked him up and they went into the living room. Methos, Richie and Amber sat down on the couch, Duncan sat down in one chair and Amanda in the other, Connor stood in the center of the room.

"Allright, now first of all, what exactly is going on around here?" Connor asked.

Everyone jumped up and started talking over each other and made it impossible for Connor to hear any of them coherently.

"SHUT UP!" he bellowed.

Everyone quieted down and sat down and seemed to remain calm.

"Allright, everyone one at a time…now what's going on?" Connor asked.

"I'll start," Richie said, "a little over a week ago, I was coming home one night when I passed by this street where the cops were raiding this house. They were taking in a bunch of people for drugs and…God knows what else…in the middle of it all there was Jeremy, all alone and in bad condition it seemed. He didn't look healthy and it obviously didn't help living in the house he was at the time. So, while everyone else was busy getting all the junkies and the crack heads in the back of the police cars, I saw Jeremy wander over to the curb of the street, and I picked him up and brought him home. At the time I just figured I'd get him away from all this and take care of him, and everything would be allright.

"When I got back, Amber found out and I wasn't sure she'd want to take care of a kid. So I told her I was ready to take full responsibility for him, but…"

"But?"

"I told Richie I'd help him," Amber chimed in, "at the time my biggest concern was keeping his presence here a secret from Mac and Amanda because I knew they wouldn't want him here…but I also knew we couldn't let them take him away because he needed help, and we were the only ones willing to do it. So, I figured Methos could be of some help seeing as how he's older than all of us put together and he's had more experience with just about everything. So I went over and got him and told him what happened."

"And?"

"And I was surprised since I thought only Caspian smelt of rotting flesh and stole babies…" Methos said, "seriously, I was a bit surprised but I didn't see any problem since it was obvious nobody wanted this kid and he'd be much better off with us than with any damn social worker or group home in the country. So it was agreed that we'd take care of him and nobody would have to know, especially not these two lovebirds. So, a week went by, we had a few problems but everything was fine, until a couple of nights ago…"

"What happened?" Connor asked.

"Jeremy got croup," Methos said, "the noise was unmistakable, we all heard it. So these two took him into the bathroom, turned on the cold water and waited out the treatment. Eventually his breathing returned to normal, I told them they should keep him in the bathroom a bit longer so he wouldn't have a relapse the same night. Then Jeremy started crying and got Duncan and Amanda up, and it was over."

"What do you mean it was over?" Connor asked.

"Our cover was blown, now they knew we had a kid in the house and had without their knowledge of it," Amber said, "it was the day after when Duncan went shooting off his mouth that Jeremy shouldn't be here, that I called you and had you come over."

"I see," Connor said, "Duncan, why do you think he shouldn't be here?"

"Let's use a bit of common sense, Connor, we're all Immortals, we encounter other Immortals and we fight to the death, that's what we've always done, and that is not something that Jeremy can be put through. Furthermore, what's to stop some Immortal from breaking in and kidnapping him, or killing him?" Duncan asked.

"What's to stop that from happening in a mortal household?" Connor replied, "The situation is different but the risks are all the same."

"I could've told him the same thing but he wouldn't have listened to me," Richie said.

"Richie, be quiet," Amanda said.

"Why should I?" Richie asked, "Connor asked for an explanation."

"Don't start again," Connor said, "Duncan, after you found out that Jeremy had been here a week, what did you do?"

"What he always does, he sticks his foot in his mouth until he's up to the knee," Amber said.

"Enough," Connor hissed, "Duncan, did you want Jeremy to stay here after realizing that he'd been here a week already and seemed to be doing fine?"

"No," Duncan admitted.

"And do you still feel that way?" Connor asked.

"No…I don't want him to be put in foster care, but I know we can't keep him with us," Duncan said.

"I still don't see why not," Amber said, "if another Immortal tried to fight us it would be against the one on one rule, Immortals have to follow those rules. I don't know why, I'm guessing that they just do."

"Allright, allright," Connor said, "I think I've heard all the sides to this…Richie, I want you and Jeremy, and _that_ to go upstairs while I decide what's going to happen."

"Okay."

"What do you think?" Duncan asked.

"I don't think they'll go along with the idea," Amanda said.

"They'll have to," Connor added, "they have no choice in the manner."

"Well then, who's going to tell them?" Amanda asked.

"Don't look at me," Methos said, I've been the bearer of bad news enough times for my lifetime."

"I'll do it," Duncan said.

Duncan headed up the stairs and was about to knock on the bedroom door when he heard a loud _CRASH_! He kicked the door open and saw the window had been busted and they were gone. He rushed into the room with Connor right behind him and saw that a lot of their belongings were gone as well. Connor went over to the window to see where they went, but they were already gone.

"Where did they go?" Duncan asked.


	9. Chapter 9

Richie woke up and though he couldn't see too well at first, he knew something was wrong, he could just feel it. The first thing he noticed was wrong was something had been shoved up his nose. As his vision cleared out, he saw Amanda and Methos standing over him.

"Amanda…" he said in a low and tired voice, "Methos?"

"Good morning," Methos smirked.

"Where am I?" Richie asked.

"The hospital," Methos replied.

Richie's heart sped up when he heard that. "The hospital?" he repeated as he struggled to sit up.

"Yes, you were a very naughty runaway, both of you," Methos feigned scolding him.

"What about Amber? Where's she?" Richie asked.

"In the bed right beside you," Amanda said.

Richie turned his head and saw Amber in a flimsy hospital gown with the sheets of the bed drawn up to her collarbone. She had tubes for supplying oxygen placed up her nose as well, and an IV needle digging into one hand, and she appeared to be unconscious, as banged up as she looked, it seemed she was resting peacefully.

"What happened?" Richie asked.

"You got in a wreck when you ran away," Amanda explained, "That's what happened."

"Oh my God," Richie moaned, "Methos…what's wrong with us? How long have we been here?"

"A couple of hours."

"We should be out of here by now, what's going on?" Richie asked.

"Shhhhhh."

Richie turned his neck and looked over and saw Amber weakly thrashing around in the bed moaning.

"What's wrong with her?" Richie asked.

"Either she's having a relapse of the wreck," Amanda said, "or she's having a good time in a dream."

Richie wanted to go over to her and wake her, but the oxygen tube up his nose and the IV needle in his hand, along with a few other things still in him made him decide otherwise, so he said in a low voice, which was basically the only one he could use, "Amber…Amber…"

Amber opened her eyes and looked up and she looked as scared as Richie felt. She didn't know where she was. Usually when she was in a hospital she woke up to bright lights overhead, but the lights were dim in their room. She raised her hands above her head and realized that they were red and cracked all over.

"Oh my God," she said, "my hands…my hands…what happened to my hands?"

"You burnt them in the wreck," Methos explained.

Amber's eyes shot up to see Methos standing beside her.

"What wreck?" she asked, "where am I?"

"The hospital," he answered calmly.

"The hospital?" Amber repeated, "oh my God…Jeremy…Jeremy…" Amber got up and crawled all over the bed in a panic, "Where is he? Where's my baby?"

Methos and Amanda went to either side of her and helped her lay back down on the bed, despite her protests and her attempts to get up. A nurse came in the room looking concerned. "Is everything allright?" she asked.

"Fine, fine, she just woke up and…doesn't quite remember too well," Methos explained.

"Well that's not what I was talking about, her IV came out," the nurse said, "I need to put it back in."

"No you don't," Amber protested, "you don't need to do that, you need to tell me why the HELL I'm in a hospital, and my baby is gone!"

"Oh Lord, not another crack head," the nurse muttered to herself.

"No, no, no, this is Amber Jenzon, she came in with Richie Ryan, they were in an accident earlier today," Methos said.

"What accident? Oh yes! Now I remember…well, considering the wreck they were in, I'd say it's a wonder they're not both dead, now if you'll excuse me, I need to put her IV back in," the nurse said.

"No you don't, I'm fine," Amber insisted.

"We have to make sure you don't get dehydrated," the nurse replied.

"So get me some water," Amber said, "but leave that damn needle out."

"If you insist," the nurse said, "but if you show the slightest sign of dehydration, the needle goes back in."

"Fine…"

The nurse left, and Amber sat up in bed, drawing her knees into her chest. "Somebody start talking, why are we here? What accident?"

"When you ran away with Jeremy you drove your car into a traffic light pole. The car was thrown into reverse, you collided with several other vehicles, the car turned over, and caught on fire."

"Oh God," Richie whispered.

"Really?" Amber asked, in shock by what she'd just heard.

"Yes, that's why your hands look like Freddy Kruger's face."

"Oh Methos, I…Jeremy…where's Jeremy? What happened to him?" Amber asked.

"Shhhhhh, it's allright, he's okay," Methos said, "he's at home with MacLeod."

"Richie, Jeremy's going to die!" Amber cried.

"Allright, knock it off," Methos said, "lucky for you we were right behind you, otherwise he could be dead by now."

"What happened?" Richie asked.

"We pulled you out of the car minutes before the entire thing went up in flames, Duncan and Connor took Jeremy home while we had an ambulance pick you up," Amanda explained.

"We've been here over two hours, why haven't we healed yet?" Richie asked.

Methos slipped a small first-aid kit out of his coat, he opened it and took out a syringe and a vial of an unusual liquid.

"What's that?" Richie asked.

"Ooh! Ooh! I know! I know!" Amber said as she raised her hand, "drugs."

"Correct," Methos said, "this drug has no name as of yet, it works to dull and ultimately numb severe pain, but in Immortals it slows our healing process…I gave each of you two shots of it before the paramedics arrived, otherwise by now they would've been on the phone with the people of Believe it or Not."

"So that's why I don't feel like hell," Amber said, "I just look like it."

"Correct."

"So when can we get out of here?" Richie asked.

"In a couple of hours, but you'll have to come home with us," Amanda said, "Amber's car was totaled in the fire."

"What about everything we had packed?" Amber asked, "Was that all destroyed in the fire too?"

"No, we got your bags out, they're back at the house too," Methos said.

"And you're going to behave when you come home, right?" Amanda asked.

Richie and Amber looked at each other.

"What's wrong?" Methos asked.

"Jeremy, what've they done with Jeremy?" Richie asked.

"We were going to tell you but you bailed out on us already. Connor decided to find someone who can take better care of Jeremy than we can," Methos explained.

"I knew it," Amber said.

"He knows a lot of people who would like a child but are barren, so he's going to get them all together, interview them, and see who would be the best choice," Methos said, "meantime Jeremy's going to be staying with us until he can find someone to take him."

"And if he can't?" Amber asked.

"If he can't find anyone he thinks is good enough, we'll keep him," Methos said.

"How long will he be interviewing them?" Richie asked.

"We haven't decided yet," Methos said.

"Is he going to be okay?" Amber asked, half asleep.

"Amber he already said Jeremy's allright," Richie said.

"It's the drugs, they're making her lethargic, a bit forgetful, even loony," Methos said, "yes, Jeremy's going to be just fine. He's with us."

"Is he here?" Amber asked.

"No, he's at home," Methos said.

"Are we home?"

"No, we're at the hospital."

"How long?"

"A couple more hours," Methos assured her.

"I want to go home, I want my baby…I want to see my baby, Jeremy…Jeremy…"

"Are you sure she's going to be allright?" Richie asked.

"Yes…she just needs to rest."

"I'm not sure," Amanda chimed in.

"What do you mean?" Richie asked.

"She was calling Jeremy her baby after she woke up, when she was thinking clearly," Amanda pointed out.

"She'd just woken up after being out for two hours on what should be a lethal injection of morphine, Demerol, vicodin, heroin, and vodka, if she could think clearly on that, she's John Belushi."

"How come I'm not crazy then?" Richie asked.

"Well…you weren't injured as badly, the less the injury, the less the drugs have to act on…Amber was in a bloody condition. She'd was in the driver's seat, and when there's an automobile accident, that is usually where fatality strikes…she'll be allright, she just needs to rest, and so do you unless you want that nurse on your back as well."

"Allright, allright, goodnight."

Richie lowered himself onto the bed and rested his head against the pillows and drifted off into sleep. Neither Methos nor Amanda had the heart to tell him it was only 2:15 in the afternoon.

When the car had first caught on fire, Jeremy saw the flames and was scared half to death. He started crying when the car turned over and he hadn't stopped since Duncan and Connor had brought him home two hours ago. He'd received a bump on the forehead and a few scrapes and bruises, but he wouldn't let either of the men towards him to help. He climbed up on top of the table in the dining room, and when Connor came towards him to wash the scrapes on his hands, he kicked Connor and jumped off the table. Duncan caught him, only to get kicked in the thighs from Jeremy, who screamed and wiggled under his grasp until Duncan finally let go.

They followed him until he was up the stairs, he grabbed hold of one of the bars in the banister and sank to the floor crying, "I want my daddy!" Duncan carefully made his way over to Jeremy so not to scare him, gently picked him up and spoke soothingly to him as he stroked his head until Jeremy seemed to calm down. Duncan went over to the bedroom and gently laid Jeremy down in the middle of the bed, he and Connor went into the next room to talk.

"Connor, this is turning into a mess," he said.

"I know, if you'd like to reconsider our options…"

"No, we decided this was best and that's what we're going to do," Duncan replied.

"Don't start yelling, you'll wake him up and we'll be up to our ears in tears," Connor said. "When are those kids coming home?"

"I don't know…I wish they would call so we'd know how they're doing."

"What hospital are they at?" Connor asked.

"I don't know, I didn't stick around long enough to hear," Duncan said.

"Well then all we can do now is wait," Connor said.

"I know, but Connor, he's a mess," Duncan told him.

"He will be for a while, he's not used to having us around, at least not like Richie and Methos…He'll adapt soon enough…we just have to be patient."

"What do we do in the meantime?" Duncan asked.

"It could be a while before they come back from the hospital, so…you go down and wait for them, I'll stay here incase he wakes up."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Connor," Duncan said.

"If he wakes up by himself he is going to be scared," Connor said.

"And you don't think he'll be scared of you?" Duncan asked, "he just got used to being around me. All week long they've told him I'm the giant green grouch who he should fear, which he has. He knows that your coming here has something to do with him, but he doesn't know what…I don't know if we should tell him now or wait until the others get back."

"We'll wait," Connor said, "in the meantime, one of us is going to wait for the others to get back, and the other is going to watch Jeremy."

"Can we go home now?" Richie asked, "My butt's falling asleep and I'm getting a draft from this gown."

"Yes," Methos said, "go get dressed and we'll get out."

"Hello," Richie said, "I don't have any other clothes with me, remember?" he asked, "my clothes were cut off of me when I was brought in here. They're scraps now."

"I took a few clothes out of your bag before sending it home with MacLeod," Methos laid out a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a pair of boots and put them at the foot of the bed.

"What about Amber?" Richie asked.

"She doesn't care so much for privacy, she can get dressed out here," Methos said.

Richie took his clothes and headed into the bathroom and got dressed. There was a light tap on the door. "Richie?"

"Yeah Amanda?"

"Are you going to be allright having Duncan and Connor and Jeremy all in the same house?"

"Whose room is he staying in?" Richie asked.

"Yours of course."

"Then I'm allright with it," Richie said, "as long as I can keep an eye on him when he needs me, it's allright with me."

"I called home while you were asleep, Jeremy wants you to come home," Amanda said.

"He told you?" Richie asked.

"No, Duncan asked us when you'd be coming home, and I heard Jeremy in the background crying "I want my daddy, I want him to come home, where's my daddy?" he's really grown on you, Richie."

Richie opened the door and came face to face with Amanda. "Just like a wart," he said.

"You're still not too sure about him calling you daddy, are you?" she asked.

"It's taking some getting used to," Richie said, "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with it, seeing as how I'm just a guy who wanted to take care of him."

"Is that all you see him as? Just someone you're looking after for the time being?" Amanda asked.

"No."

"And what about Amber?"

"What about her?"

"Well she's gotten used to Jeremy calling her 'mommy', and you heard her earlier, she called him her baby…"

"That was the drugs…"

"She calls him her baby because to her he is. Richie, you don't have to impregnate a woman to become a father."

"Well that's good, cuz I can't."

"I mean you shouldn't have any problem with Jeremy calling you his father since you basically fill the description of one. You're there for him, you care for him, you spend time with him, you help him, you're doing just about everything a father could do for him."

"He's grown on you too, huh?" Richie asked.

"…to be honest, Richie, I'm hoping Connor doesn't find someone to let Jeremy live with, because he's going to be allright staying with us."

"You really think so?" Richie asked.

"I know so, I know you, I know Amber, I know all of you," she said, "I know what you're like and I know that you love him."

"Well you know we're the only ones who ever will probably."

"Ready to go?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah."

"They're back," Methos said as he came in through the front door.

Amber and Richie were right behind him and Amanda behind them.

"Where is he?" Richie asked.

"Upstairs, asleep, in the master bedroom," Connor said.

"By himself?" Amber asked.

"Don't be dumb, Duncan's watching him," Connor replied.

Amber dropped her bag and headed up the stairs with Richie right behind her. They marched up to the second floor and over to Duncan's room and saw him sitting on the bed holding Jeremy in his arms and cooing at him while Jeremy tugged on his hair.

"What in the name of H.G. Wells are you doing to our kid?" Amber asked.

"Mommy!" Jeremy squirmed out of Duncan's arms and ran over to them and clung to their legs.

"Well how was the hospital?" Duncan asked.

"Same as it always is, crappy," Amber said.

"How's Jeremy been doing?" Richie asked.

"Awful, he's been waiting for you to come back, and making us miserable in the time being," Duncan said.

Richie picked Jeremy up and got a good look at him. "Whoa, looks like somebody took a real beating in the wreck."

"I know, he won't let us near him if we try to look at his injuries. So far we've gathered that he has a bump on his forehead, a few scrapes and bruises here and there, and aside from that, we're in the dark," Duncan said.

"No problem, I'll take care of this," Richie said.

Richie took Jeremy into the bathroom and sat him on the sink counter while he sorted through everything in the first aid kid kept in the medicine cabinet.

"I swear, Richie's really got that parental instinct in him," Amber said, "you can't tell me that he wouldn't have made a damn good father."

"I know," Duncan said.

"You know, a lot of guys could really take a lesson from him, he's here for the kid, he's always available and he's been bending over backwards for him since he came home," Amber said.

"But there's a difference, it wasn't his responsibility originally…he just took it upon himself to become a father for him," Duncan said.

"Mac, don't start on that again."

"I know, I know, I'm tired of arguing with you, it's really nerve-wracking on Jeremy too…listen, Connor's come up with an idea that I think you'd be willing to go along with…"

"We already know about his plan," Amber said, "I think it's a good idea, either way Jeremy's going to be with someone who wants him, I don't think it could get any better for him than that."

"Amber…I'd also like to apologize for being an ass about this whole thing."

"I thought you already did that," Amber said.

"I think it'd be easier to understand if I explained it better…"

"What's to understand? You're a domineering, uptight, bucktoothed asshole who thinks everything always has to go by the rules," Amber said, "I already had that figured out."

"You're right about one thing…the Rules are something that I take very seriously, you know how it is with Immortals, we live forever, we fight to the death, we can't have children, we can't fight on Holy Ground, we only fight one on one and in the end only one Immortal can remain. All of that has been burnt into my mind for many years, and I'd already gone through this once before with Richie."

"I know, Methos told me," Amber said, "but times are different, the situation is different, fuck Mac, Richie is different, okay? He knows how it goes, and this is not like the last time, and unlike the last time, Richie is not going to end up alone by the end of this."

"He wasn't alone."

"Not to you he wasn't, because you were with him…you've never been part of a family that comes when you do and after you do, your family all came before you, and after they left, you had nothing. Richie has had nothing all his life, now that his family life should be over, it's just beginning, and it's gotten better, and I'm not going to let you ruin that for him," Amber said.

Dinner was served at 5:30, it was mashed potatoes, fried chicken and peas. Richie, Amber and Jeremy had their dinner in their room.

"So how's Jeremy doing?" Amber asked.

"Fine…he put up a fight during his bath, but he seems to be doing a lot better now," Richie said.

"Yeah, and in a few days that bump will turn into a scab and peel right off," Amber said.

"Amber please, we're trying to eat," Richie said.

"Yeah…mama," Jeremy said.

"Did you talk to Mac?" Richie asked.

"Yes, I talked to Mac and I talked to Connor, and then I talked to Methos to make sure I hadn't heard them wrong…turns out they were of sound mind when they said it," Amber said, "so I guess we can trust them."

"Well, all that matters to me is that Jeremy has a place to stay and we're with him."

"Same here," Amber replied, "all the same I'd recommend going to sleep with a mace tonight."

"Amber…"

"I'm not talking about the stuff that makes you go blind and gag for half an hour, I'm talking about one of those sharp pointy balls on a stick that you swing, considering how old they are, I think it's more suiting, it's something they'd remember," Amber said.

"Amber please…I am exhausted and would just like to get some sleep later," Richie said.

"Nothing's stopping you from doing it right now," Amber told him.

There was a knock at the door, Methos poked his head in. "I thought you'd like to know that they just said on the weather that we're due for a severe thunderstorm and the warning's going to last until one o' clock tomorrow morning."

"Is that all?" Amber asked, "No hurricanes or typhoons or anything like that, right?"

"Not as far as we know yet," Methos said.

"Good."

"Mommy, what's going on?" Jeremy asked.

"Well tonight there's going to be a lot of rain, and it's also going to be very loud, and very bright," Amber said.

"Oh."

"Also we may get hail," Amber said.

"What makes you so sure?" Richie asked.

"Most places I've been at, when there was a thunderstorm during warm weather, the rain was accompanied by hail."

"We'll see," Richie said.

"Methos!" Amber bellowed as she knocked on his doorframe, "Can you watch Jeremy for a while?"

"Sure, are you busy?" Methos asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to get a shower," Amber said.

"That's pretty stupid, it's storming outside," Methos said.

"I know, I want to get up on the roof and get a shower before it starts hailing," Amber explained.

Methos laughed, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, why not? After the day I've had, I think a little lightning could help…hey Methos, I want to thank you for coming down to the hospital with us, instead of Mac…if he'd been there, I think we would've killed him."

"Well, someone has to look after the Scottish ass," Methos said, "let's face it, at times he thinks with his ass more than he does with his head."

"No argument there," Amber said. "I guess you're waiting on an explanation as to why we took off before Connor had a chance to say anything."

"No, I know why you did that," Methos said, "because you were certain of what he'd say, and you didn't see any point in waiting around for the inevitable. I can understand that, but you underestimated him, you thought for sure that he'd side with Duncan, no matter what."

"So apparently there was a change between what we thought would happen and what actually happened," Amber said. "But Methos, I still don't like the idea of just Connor seeing all these people and decided himself who's good enough."

"I know, that's why we decided that we're all going to see them, first he's going to see them, talk to them, find out what their background holds, and then he hands them over to us."

"Now I like that idea…you know, I consider myself a pretty good judge of people, that's why I don't like most of them…so if I don't like these people, you'll know it's not just that I'm over protective of Jeremy…it's that I don't want him to end up dead."

"I know…I've seen too much of that in my time to let it happen again," Methos said.

Connor looked up at the roof as he came in, "Amber! Get off the roof and put some clothes on!" Connor went in the back door and slammed it, "I don't know what goes on inside that kid's mind."

"Neither do I and she's been living under my roof for about a year now," Duncan said, "what's she doing?"

"She's bathing nu…never mind…how's Jeremy?"

"I don't know, Methos has him right now," Duncan replied, "he's locked the door and won't let me in to see him."

"Parents."

"Yeah I…anyway…any luck finding someone yet?" Duncan asked.

"Not yet, when I thought of this idea I had at least ten peoples' names, now I call them and they're all out of reach," Connor said.

"Well……maybe it's better that we don't get in touch with them," Duncan said.

"That's what I've been thinking…have you talked to the kids yet?" Connor asked.

"Yes and they still don't like the idea of anyone else taking Jeremy," Duncan said.

"I'm not too fond of it myself, but if it's what has to be done…" Connor said.

"What do you mean?" Duncan asked.

"Well I mean if there aren't any other options…"

"I mean what do you mean you're not too fond of the idea? You came up with it," Duncan said.

"I know…ever hear of this thing called regret?" Connor asked.

"You can't be serious."

"Why not?"

"Connor, how many times have we gone through this? We're Immortals, we can't risk it," Duncan said.

"You think there's an Immortal out there who's willing to go against the rules?" Connor asked.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Duncan asked.

"You could move to Holy Ground…you wouldn't have to stay there for the rest of Jeremy's life but it would keep you out of trouble the majority of the next twelve years," Connor said.

"Is everybody turning into a parent around here?" Duncan asked, "Am I the only one thinking logically anymore? Connor, we're Immortals, we can't have families, we can't have kids…"

"We don't get married and we don't take in others like us I suppose?" Connor asked, "What about Richie?"

"That's different! And you know why!"

"If he weren't Immortal, would you still have taken him in?" Connor asked.

"Honestly…I don't know."

"You would've," Connor said.

"Oh yeah?" Duncan asked, "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I know you, Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, born in 1592 in the Highlands of Scotland. I know you better than you know yourself, I know how you are, loyal, honest, always looking to do the right thing."

"Amber said the same thing, only she wasn't enthusiastic about it."

"I'm not too thrilled either, but we have to do something," Connor said.

"I agree, but I don't think it's safe for him to stay with us, Holy Ground or no Holy Ground."

Amber finished her shower and was getting dressed when she saw she had company. Down in the driveway was the man she'd met at the cemetery, apparently enjoying the show.

"Like what you see?" she asked.

"Very much."

"Yeah well it'd probably be more enjoyable if I actually had any breasts…instead I look more like a man than my roommate," Amber replied.

"Well I liked it," Shane said, "of course…I have an unusual eye…I can see naked people, and not get a hormonal response to the sight."

"Well that's good to know," Amber said.

"Can you come out tonight?" Shane asked teasingly.

"No, we're in for a thunderstorm tonight and I have to be here for Jeremy, we haven't had him during a storm yet so I don't know how he's going to act," Amber said.

"Understandable."

"How're you doing tonight?" Amber asked as she sat down on the ledge of the roof.

"Fine…fine…I woke up with a bit of a jolt."

"Huh?"

"Lightning hit."

"Oh…"

"I'm going to the racetracks, I'll be gone all night…"

"But you'll be back by morning, right?" Amber guessed.

"I never miss a morning with Rachel."

"Didn't think so…"

"If you're available tomorrow…"

"Is something wrong?" Amber asked.

"I just have a lot of questions about Immortality…it's a lot to understand."

"And most of us never do," Amber said more to herself than to him, "I'll see you in the morning…in the meantime, I have a kid and a half to look after tonight."

Amber climbed down to an open window and slipped back into the house through the attic. She went down the bedroom and saw Richie on his hands and knees with his head under his bed.

"Lose something?" Amber asked.

Richie pulled his head out and crawled over to Amber's bed, "Yeah…Jeremy."

"What?" Amber asked.

"Amber…I turn my back for one minute and he's gone…I wasn't sure, I thought maybe he hid under the bed."

"And is he?" Amber asked.

"No…check the closet and see if he's there."

Amber went over to the closet and opened the door and looked in. "He ain't in here."

"And he's not under your bed," Richie said as he stood up. "Could he be in your trunk?"

"Not without you knowing," Amber said, "I'll check in the bathroom."

"And I'll go check with Methos…maybe he has him."

"Who has what?" Methos asked, entering the room.

"Did you have Jeremy?" Richie asked.

"No, some lady did…it's a biological fact, all part of life…you see the woman has the egg and the men have the sperm. One day a month the woman ovulates and the egg drops into position for the sperm to…"

"No, no, no…not like that!" Richie said, "is he with you?"

"Do you see a 36-pound kid crawling on me like a jungle gym? Of course he isn't with me," Methos said.

"Well where could he be?" Amber asked as she came out of the bathroom, "he disappeared when Richie had his back turned."

"When was that?" Methos asked.

"A few minutes ago."

"Well he couldn't have gotten far."

"Would he be in your room?" Amber asked.

"He'd have to be pretty damn fast to get in there without my knowing, but it's worth a look I suppose."

Connor and Duncan had picked up a conversation from earlier and were continuing it while Duncan finished the dishes.

"All I'm saying is if we don't find anyone after a while, I don't see any point in continuing to look," Connor said.

"I don't think we should give up on it so easily…we'll find the right person, it just might take time," Duncan said.

"We could interview a thousand people and still not find anyone good enough," Connor said.

"Then we may have to compromise," Duncan said.

"Compromise? We're not talking about renting a house for the weekend, Duncan, we're talking about Jeremy's future. I still think that kid would be better off with us than with anyone we might find."

"If you believe that then I have a bridge to sell you," Duncan said.

"Oh come on, suppose nobody's good enough?" Connor asked.

"What if they are?" Duncan asked.

"Then we'll cross your bridge when we come to it," Connor said.

Duncan sighed as he drained the sink. He and Connor had debated on this for half an hour and still they were getting nowhere. Connor leaned back in his chair at the table and saw Amber coming down the back stairs. "Hi Amber…what's up?"

"Connor, is Jeremy down here with you?" Amber asked.

"No," Connor said as he straightened up in the chair, "Why?"

"He's not in any of the bedrooms and we can't find him anywhere," Amber said.

"Well he never came down here," Connor said.

"Check the living room, he may be there," Duncan suggested.

"Good idea."

Amber sprinted into the living room with Connor and Duncan right behind her.

"I don't get it, he's not in any of our bedrooms, or in the bathroom, and he's not in the attic, where could he be?" Richie asked.

"And where could he have gone in such a short amount of time?" Methos asked.

"I don't know," Amanda said, "but he has to be around here somewhere…he couldn't have just disappeared."

"Are you sure?" Methos asked.

"What're you saying, Methos?" Richie asked.

"That new Immortal we were talking about earlier…I'm not too sure something like this isn't one of his strategies," Methos said.

"Methos that's impossible, we've all been here, we would've noticed," Amanda said.

"Not if he was well hidden," Richie said, "and Amber was up on the roof for a while so we wouldn't have felt her being on this floor, but we might've someone else in her place."

Amber's mind went blank when she heard that. She had heard them talk about this "new" Immortal, now in her mind all points seemed to be aimed at Shane. He appeared to be new to the game, and in fact put on a very convincing at of it. He carried no sword since he didn't know much about fighting. Now, Jeremy had disappeared momentarily…during his visit.


	10. Chapter 10

"I don't believe this," Amanda said, "Richie turns his back for one minute and he's gone, how did this happen?"

"I'm sure I don't know," Duncan said.

"All I can say is we better find him soon, otherwise it could get ugly," Methos said.

"For once, I agree," Duncan said.

Richie came in the room almost reluctantly.

"Did you find him?" Amanda asked.

"No."

"Connor's looking downstairs, and Amber's checking outside, he has to be nearby," Amanda said.

"I sure hope so," Richie said.

Connor finished looking in the dining room, the living room and the den, he went to the front door and saw Amber out looking in the yard.

"Did you find him yet?" Connor asked.

"Not yet!" she replied.

"He has to be around here somewhere, keep looking," Connor said, "I'll check upstairs again."

"Okay!"

Amber knew it was a stupid thing to do, but she went over to the trees and looked up to see if maybe Jeremy had climbed up one. Nothing. Then she felt the presence of another Immortal coming her way.

"Not now," she said to herself.

She was relieved to see Shane's car pull up, he stopped the car, got out and went over to her.

"Amber, I'm sorry for the intrusion but I felt terrible about leaving when I did," he said, "What's going on?"

"Shane, Jeremy's disappeared and we can't find him anywhere!" Amber exclaimed.

"Did someone take him?"

"I don't think so, Richie was watching him, he turned his back for just a minute and he was gone!"

"I'll help you look for him, he has to be around here somewhere," Shane said.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Amber said, "you see there's this new Immortal running around and if they…"

At that exact moment, there was a loud crash of thunder as a huge bolt of lightning lit up the sky. Amidst the noise, they heard the unmistakable sound of a child crying.

"Is that him?" Shane asked.

"I sure hope so," Amber said.

They ran to the back where the noise came from, they looked around the backyard but saw nothing. When thunder crashed again, they heard Jeremy's cries coming from the garage. Amber turned and ran directly in and found him on the floor by Duncan's car.

"Jeremy!" she shrieked in relief.

"Mommy!" Terrified, Jeremy got up and ran over to her.

Amber picked Jeremy up and held him close. "Don't you ever do that again, you had all us scared to death."

"I won't," Jeremy promised as he hung onto Amber.

"Shane, I'm sorry but…"

"What's wrong?"

"Shane, you have to get out of here…there's this Immortal who's going around killing other Immortals quicker than you can imagine. Nobody knows what he looks like, and he claims to be new to the Game so if they catch you here, they might think you're him," Amber said.

"I get it…I'll get going…but I'll see you later," he said.

"Shane, I'm sorry…I know you're new to everything and you need someone to explain the rules and everything, but this just isn't the right time for it."

"I know, I know…don't worry, I'll be allright…tonight I'll stay with Rachel," Shane said.

"I see you remember the rule of Holy Ground."

"Yes, so until we can meet again, I'll be fine."

Shane pointed a finger at Jeremy and said, "And as for you, don't go giving your mother anymore trouble."

"O-kay."

Shane slipped out of the garage and headed down the driveway and back to his car and took off. Amber slipped in the back door with Jeremy still in her arms.

"I tell you, he's nowhere to be found here," Connor said, "I looked downstairs, upstairs and in the attic."

"Why don't you search me?" Amber asked as she entered the room, "I found him."

"Where was he?" Duncan asked.

"That's the funniest thing, I found him in the garage," Amber said.

"Give him to me," Richie said.

"A pleasure," Amber handed Jeremy over to Richie, "I love the kid but he's getting to be murder on the hips."

"I feel like I'm having a heart attack," Richie said.

"You need a heart before you can do that," Amber told him.

"Funny."

"The important thing is he's here now," Amanda said.

"I agree," Amber said, "and personally, I'm for putting a bell around this boy's neck."

"Amber."

"Well, sorry for all the trouble everyone, we'll be heading back to our room now," Amber said.

"No problem, the important thing is he's safe," Connor said.

Richie and Amber took Jeremy back to their room, Amber closed the door behind them and Richie held Jeremy close.

"You really scared the hell out of us, little guy," Richie said.

"I' so'wry daddy," Jeremy said.

"You have no idea how relieved I was to find him in the garage," Amber said, "I was worried he'd climbed up a tree."

"Mommy, where'd the big man go?" Jeremy asked.

"What?" Richie asked.

"Uh…friend from school came over while I was outside…wanted to talk about something."

"Oh…well Jeremy, what do you have to say for yourself? Why'd you go to the garage?"

"I saw the light'ing and got scared, so I ran in the 'gerage to hide."

"Well why'd you go outside in the first place? I turn my back on you for one minute and you're gone."

"I was hiding."

"Hiding from what?" Richie asked.

"From you," Amber answered.

"What?"

"He was playing a game with you. He hides, you look for him, he jumps out and scares you, isn't that right, Jeremy?" Amber asked.

"'Ges mommy," he answered.

"There, you see?" Amber asked.

"How'd you know that?" Richie asked.

"I did the same thing on my parents all the time, especially during a storm," Amber said.

"I guess if you're going to get along with a kid it helps to think like a kid," Richie said.

"Daddy," Jeremy chimed in.

"Yes, Jeremy?"

"How come the grown-ups don't like me?" Jeremy asked.

"What're you talking about? They're crazy about you, Amanda and Methos…"

"Na, Dunkstin and Connor don't," Jeremy said.

"Give me my kid," Amber took Jeremy from Richie, looked him in the eyes and said, "Jeremy, it's not that Duncan and Connor don't like you, they're just new to having you around, and they're not sure what to do with you here. But that's just cuz they haven't spent enough time with you yet…you give them a chance, and they'll be crazy about you, and before you know it you'll have grown on them like a large wart. Just give them time."

"Okay mama," Jeremy said.

"Good, now that that's cleared up, what'll we do now?" Amber asked.

"Well, I'd suggest going downstairs for the time being," Richie said.

"Why?"

"Well we don't know how bad the storm's going to be tonight and I'd just rather not take any chances with Jeremy up here."

"What? You mean like if the power goes out and he runs off or if, like a tree branch comes through the window, or lighting strikes something up here?"

"Yeah."

"Allright."

"The storm warning has been extended from 1 to 3 A.M.," Methos said.

"Wonderful, just peachy," Duncan said, "just what I need, go to bed and get electrocuted."

"That wouldn't be so bad," Amanda said, "now if the storm wasn't the worst of it and we got a hurricane too, that would be something else."

While the adults discussed the weather, Richie and Amber and Jeremy sat at the table in the kitchen playing cards.

"What do you think?" Richie asked.

Amber had been listening in on the conversation from the living room and said, "I think Mac will get electrocuted."

"Not about that," Richie said, "Do you think Connor's idea will work?"

Amber thought for a minute, "No…hit me."

Richie flipped another card off the deck and over hers. "Why do you say that?"

"Because Richie, no matter who Connor has us interview, none of them are going to be good enough to take Jeremy…hit me."

Richie flipped another card off the deck, "Yeah but do you really think Connor's going to give us the final say in it?"

"Of course not, Richie, Connor's just going to let us interview them and check out everything about them so we won't feel like he's blowing us off to get Jeremy out of here…hit me."

"Then why bother doing it in the first place?"

"Because, Connor knows if he just went ahead and did this, we'd jump him and see to it that they didn't take Jeremy away…after what happened earlier, I don't think he wants us to get in another predicament like that…hit me."

Richie sighed, "I don't get it…I just don't get him, I don't get what he's thinking, or Mac, or any of them."

"I don't get them and I don't want to, the less we know about them gives us less of them to become like…hit me."

"I mean…would it kill them to keep Jeremy here?"

"It might."

"And another thing, how is Connor going to do this without any trouble? Someone could be looking for him, they could be in cahoots with his parents, and we wouldn't even know it…you know how people can so easily come up with fake I.Ds, new lives, false backgrounds and everything, how could we be sure?"

"Easy, we tell them there's a 30-day waiting period for us to reach our decision, and in between that time, we track them and see who they are and where they go, it wouldn't be all that hard…hit me."

"What a lousy way for things to work out, you know?" Richie asked, "Finally after all these years…finally I have a chance to give a kid a better life than I had…make him part of a real family…and I'm going to lose him."

"You're not going to lose him, we're going to keep Jeremy here with us if I have to see to it myself…we're a family, and family looks out for one another, no matter what...hit me."

"Easier said than done."

"Have you been talking to Methos lately?" Amber asked.

"A bit, why?"

"If you want advice on family, I think he'd be the best choice," Amber said.

"How do you figure?"

"Because he's your family…you two are actually related, you know how much it would mean to me if I could find a living relative of my family?" Amber asked, "besides, things have changed since we first found that out."

"I guess so," Richie said.

"I mean, you're not fighting with him anymore…well not like you used to, you stopped trying to kill him long ago and you've actually be able to have perfectly coherent discussions with him," Amber said, "if that's not making progress I don't know what is. Besides, he's the one who's been helping us along the way since you brought Jeremy home. He's looked after the three of us, he's kept his mouth shut with the others and he's taken good care of Jeremy."

"I guess you're right," Richie said.

"Richie…I know you're just worried about Jeremy and what's going to happen to him, which only proves one thing."

"What's that?"

"You're clearly the best father he's ever going to get."

"What?"

"Let me give you a little advice, parents worry, it's their job…you wouldn't be worried about Jeremy if you didn't love him…so it's obvious that you love him…that's better than anything anyone else is ever going to be able to give him."

"True, with one exception to how the general idea of that goes…"

"What's that?" Amber asked.

"I don't beat Jeremy black and blue…or any color, to prove that I love him."

"Amen to that," Amber said, "hit me."

"Amber, how many hits have you taken this game?" Richie asked.

"Seven."

"How can you still be taking hits?" Richie asked, "You have to have reached a bust a long time ago."

"Not really," Amber turned her cards over, and Richie saw 5 aces and 2 2s, along with her original 2 aces.

"What?" Richie asked.

"Richie," Amber said, "That's what happens when you play with two decks shuffled into one. And besides, you shuffle poorly."

"What about you, Jeremy?" Richie asked, "What've you got?"

Jeremy turned over his cards and revealed a queen and an ace.

"Blackjack, the kid wins," Richie sighed.

"I tell you, he's going to be a genius one of these days," Amber said as she shuffled the cards.

"I tell you Amber, I'm not going to trust anybody else to take as good of care of Jeremy as we do," Richie said.

"Good, because nobody will," Amber said, "besides, there are so many sick people out there…people who seem perfectly normal…I mean, look at John Gacy."

"He was a parent?" Richie asked.

"I don't recall, but everybody thought he was normal, and he assaulted and murdered over thirty teenaged boys…who would've seen that coming?"

"The psychic from the Christmas party."

"Okay, so she had a clue to it, but I digress…everyone thought he was normal, well except for his wife, and the boys who worked for him…okay, look at Tanya Reid."

"Who's she?"

"In 1984 she murdered her 9-month old daughter after months of abusing her, then years later she tried the same thing on her 2-year-old son. It's called Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. People inflict injury on themselves and/or others, and get unnecessary medical tests and opinions, all because they're starved for the attention of the medical staff. Of course the tests prove there's nothing physically wrong that can be found. But it just continues, it's often associated with the deaths of babies, it's particularly common with SIDS. It's all one big disorder leading to self mutilation."

"She did that to her own kids?"

"Yep, although she never tried that stunt on her firstborn daughter…"

"I agree, that is sick."

"Yep, and then of course, you have the notorious 1970 Katie "Genie" Standon case, America's wild child, the worst case of child abuse the authorities had ever seen. Locked in one room, tied to a chair by day, and a crib at night, by her father, left there for twelve years, never learned to talk, never learned to do anything. Sometimes he even forgot about her and she was tied to a chair all night."

"And people try to make us out to be the crazy ones," Richie thought.

"I know Richie, it's a sick world, but what're you gonna do? Kill yourself and you burn, kill someone else and you still burn…stay on this planet and we'll all burn. There's no way out."

Lightning lit up the room, followed by a crash of thunder twelve seconds later. The rain continued to pour down, the storm would be going on for most of if not all night long. Richie played with Jeremy to keep his mind occupied and off of the weather, Amber just continued to stare out the window. She was worried about Shane, he was out in this weather. What if lightning struck in the right place and he was crushed by a tree branch? Or if the lightning caused a fire and he was in the middle of it. Then again, she couldn't know that for a fact. Shane was up and active during the night, he slept in the daytime. For a new Immortal who didn't know much about Immortals or the Game, she thought, he was pretty smart. He slept during the day and came out at night when there weren't too many Immortals out, especially not the ones looking for trouble. Also, when he did sleep, it was on Holy Ground, so no Immortal could sneak attack him. He hadn't found a teacher yet, but he already knew part of how to fight, so if nothing else he could buy himself some time in a fight and get to Holy Ground where they couldn't touch him.

"Are you allright?" Richie's voice broke the silence.

Amber blinked and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking."

"You've been doing a lot of that lately," Richie sighed, "I'm starting to think you're related to Methos, you're acting more like him than I am, and I'm his cousin."

"Well cousins don't often act alike," Amber said, "Look at Duncan and Connor."

"That's different, they're not even related," Richie replied.

"And you're related because a schmuk in his family married into yours," Amber said, "It's a twisted way to look at family, but you should be so lucky that you even still have part of one."

"I suppose you're right," Richie said, "Doesn't mean I have to like him though."

"Never has…it just means that he's your family."

"Family…what good are they for?" Richie pondered.

"Family…can't live with them, can't shoot 'em," Amber responded.

"That's more like it," Richie said.

"Daddy," Jeremy said.

"Yeah, pal?"

"How long will the storm keep going?" Jeremy asked.

"The weatherman's saying at least until early tomorrow morning," Amber said.

"How long is that?" Jeremy asked.

"Too long."

"Oh…daddy."

"Yeah?" Richie asked.

"Where does rain come from?" Jeremy asked.

"Well I don't know, cuz your dad's an idiot," Richie said.

"It's like this," Amber said, "You know how you put water on a plate and don't do anything with it, and the next day it's gone?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well with all the plants and the flowers and the trees out there, they take the water and it disappears just like on the plate, and it goes back into the sky to make more clouds to rain again."

"Really?"

"More or less in a nutshell," Amber answered.

"Oh…so this is because somebody watered their garden a lot?" Jeremy asked.

"Something like that," Richie smirked.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh," Jeremy said.

"Do you really get it or are you just saying that to humor us?" Amber asked.

"I get it," Jeremy said.

"Allright," Amber said, "Hey Richie, where're the adults?"

"They went to bed already," Richie said.

"Hey, so it's just the three of us up and around here and now?" Amber asked.

"Pretty much."

"Allright," Amber said, "let's raid the fridge, make some prank phone calls, jump on the furniture then eat with our feet."

"Funny," Richie said.

"Oh come on, Richie, we don't have them riding our case, we might as well do something fun," Amber said.

"Yeah well I don't think we could hold a…T-O-G-A—P-A-R-T-Y with the K-I-D around," Richie said.

"What do you know? The kid knows how to spell…" Amber said, "Allright, no toga parties, no raids on the icebox, no prank phone calls, and no jumping on the furniture…wanna wrestle?"

"No."

Amber thought for a minute, "You wanna put on your bathing suit and play Neptune, King of the Sea?"

"No."

Amber thought again, "You wanna ring some doorbells and run?"

"No."

"You wanna go outside and wrestle in the mud?"

"No."

Amber thought again, "How about we get out some charcoal and some lighter fluid and tap dance on the barbecue?"

"No."

"Boy Richie, you sure are no fun tonight," Amber said, "isn't that right, Jeremy?"

"Yeah."

"Turn my own kid against me, huh?" Richie asked.

"That's right you old goat," Amber said.

"I am not a goat," Richie said, "Joe's an old goat."

"And you're the brat," Amber replied.

"I am NOT a brat!" Richie exclaimed.

"Yes you are, and I'll tell you something else, I have half a mind to take you over my knee right here and now and give you the spanking of your short existence," Amber said.

"Well you're welcome to go ahead and try," Richie said.

"Okay I will…"

Amber grabbed Richie and put him in a headlock as she walked over to the edge of the bed, she sat down and threw Richie over her lap. Jeremy watched as she was about to give him a spanking he'd never forget. At the last minute, she decided against it and let Richie slip off her lap and he fell on the floor.

"What was that for?" Richie asked.

"Not in front of the kid," Amber said.

"Frankly I don't get it, Amber," Richie said.

"And frankly you never will," Amber said, "Come on Jeremy, let's go downstairs and raid the icebox."

Jeremy jumped onto Amber's back as she walked out of the bedroom and down the hall.

Richie laughed to himself, "God, I love those two…heh, it's obvious, I'm crazy…but then again…you'd have to be crazy to love them."

Everyone had officially turned in by 1 o' clock, but around 2:15 the storm got loud again and everyone woke up hearing Jeremy scream.

"What was that?" Amanda asked.

"I don't know," Duncan replied, half asleep still, "but I'm going to find out."

Duncan slipped on his robe and went out in the hall with Amanda right behind him. They found Jeremy out in the middle of the hallway, scared and crying.

"Jeremy, what's the matter?" Duncan asked as he placed a hand on Jeremy's shoulder.

"D-Don't touch me!" Jeremy screamed as he slammed back against the wall.

"What's wrong?" Duncan asked, confused by what the kid had just said.

Jeremy turned aside and leaned his face against the wall and started crying again. Methos came out and asked, "What's going on, MacLeod?"

"I don't know, he won't let me near him," Duncan said.

Methos went over to Jeremy and picked him up in his arms with no trouble from the now seemingly exhausted kid.

"Are you allright, Jeremy?" he asked.

"Yep."

"Did you have a bad dream?"

"Nope."

"Did the storm wake you up?"

"Yep."

"Well how bout I take you back to your mom and dad, since they must be worried over you," Methos said.

"Okay."

"Can you believe that?" Duncan asked.

"They probably woke up when we did, so they would be worried if he wasn't there," Amanda said.

"Not that, Jeremy told me not to touch him."

"I know, I'm impressed, he's starting to talk in more sentences than just a few words here and there," Amanda said.

"Amanda!"

"What?"

"You don't see anything wrong with what just happened?"

"Oh for crying out loud, Mac, Jeremy probably had a nightmare, and he knows you're not crazy about him so aside from Connor, I can't think of anyone who's likely to appear in his nightmare…now come on back to bed."

As Amanda headed back into the bedroom, Duncan stood in the hall and said to himself, "Jeremy said he didn't have a nightmare."

"What's the matter with him?" Richie asked.

"Well, either he had a nightmare, the storm woke him up, or both," Methos said as he handed the crying child to Richie.

"Sorry he got you up, Methos," Amber said.

"I was already up…I was coming down from the roof," Methos said.

"What were you doing on the roof?"

"I was waiting for lightning to strike, I'm crazy like that," Methos replied.

"Funny."

Methos headed back over to his room, and Richie spoke soothingly to Jeremy as he tried to calm him down. Amber swung her feet around onto the floor and got up, "I'm going to get something that'll calm him down…do you want anything?"

"Yeah, a large amount of morphine so I might get through the night," Richie replied.

"You know Richie, you're a lot like Methos, your sense of humor is as its driest when you're half-asleep."

Amber tiptoed down to the kitchen and made her way over to the refrigerator, "Let's see…something's gotta help that kid calm down….a glass of milk…a cup of water…graham crackers…applesauce…brandy…no-no, brandy's for the other kid I'm sleeping with…some orange juice…maybe I should get something for myself while I'm at it…hmmmmmm, peanut butter and pickles…green olives and jelly…potato chips and ketchup…" Amber gathered a bunch of food in her arms and put it on the kitchen table, "let's see, did I forget anything?"

"_Worms and plastic minnows."_

"Worms a…" Amber went over to the back door and pulled it open to see that all-too familiar 7-foot black haired Immortal standing outside, "How long have you been standing here?"

"Long enough," Shane replied, "How's everything going here?"

"Jeremy got up and he's all hysterical…so I came down to get something to relax him."

Shane stepped in the kitchen and looked over at the table, "Brandy?"

"For Richie…he needs something to relax him too," Amber replied.

"I'm sorry I had to come over after what happened earlier tonight," Shane said, "I called an hour ago to say I was coming over, but there was no answer."

"The storm must've blown the phone lines down," Amber yawned, "Nobody called here…why didn't you knock?"

"I didn't want to scare anybody."

"Oh, and the sudden presence of another Immortal wouldn't?" Amber asked, "What's the matter?"

"There was an odd figure down at the cemetery tonight, I couldn't see him too well but he was one of us…he didn't say anything and didn't try to fight, he just kept coming my way. So I got out of there, I didn't want to risk him trying to fight me on Holy Ground."

"Oh Shane, no Immortal fights on Holy Ground, it's a rule and everybody knows it," Amber said.

"But someone could break the rules, you know how much people love doing that, hell, I do that myself."

"But not _these_ rules, Shane, Immortal breaks the rules to the Game."

"Why not?"

"I don't know," Amber replied, "I don't know if there's some kind of punishment for it or not, but they don't."

"Oh…well I'm sorry for bothering you."

"Hey, you're new to this, I expect it," Amber said.

Shane turned on his heel and was about to leave, "Shane," she said.

Shane turned back around. "Yes?"

Amber went into the dining room and looked through the closet for something. She came back with a sword with a sharp blade and handed it to Shane, "If you have to, you use it."

Shane nodded, "Thanks," and he took off.

Amber closed the kitchen door and leaned against it as she thought, "Another Immortal at the cemetery? Who could that be?"

Amber went back to the food and was about to take it up when she heard something. It was the low sound of a car coming down the street. Amber went out the back door and out to the driveway and looked and saw Connor's car slowly coming down and pulled into the drive. Connor slowly got out and pulled himself along to the house like he was drunk.

"Where the hell have you been?" Amber asked.

"You know that's funny," Connor said, "usually it's the adult that asks the kid that."

"Again I say, where the hell have you been?" Amber asked.

"Oh, I was just out…"

"Out where?" Amber asked.

"Uh…drinking," Connor replied.

"Oh yeah?"

Amber pulled Connor down by his shirt and sniffed, "What was it? Fragrance-free scotch? You didn't go out drinking…you dirty bastard, you went down to the cemetery!"

"So what if I did? I knew you were up to something Amber, but I didn't know what, and I didn't know it was this bad," Connor said.

"Connor, you can't truly believe Shane is this Immortal who's killing everybody off," Amber said.

"Why not? We don't know what this Immortal looks like, furthermore he plays the role of a new Immortal perfectly," Connor replied.

"Yeah? Is that why you tried to take his head on Holy Ground?" Amber asked, "Damn it Connor, I thought you knew better than that, you're Duncan's teacher for God's sake, you taught him everything he knows!"

"Who said I tried to kill that punk on Holy Ground?" Connor asked, "I didn't even go in the graveyard, I stayed outside the gates and watched him."

"I'm not buying that," Amber said, "Shane said this Immortal was in the cemetery and came after him."

"You're really going to take his word for it?" Connor asked, "You haven't known him long, what do you know about him? Amber, maybe he's a liar, you know how well some Immortals are at that. Look at Methos, look at Richie, hell Amber, look at yourself!"

"You know Connor, I highly doubt Shane would ever find it in himself to take your head but I'm not too sure I'd mind doing that deed myself," Amber said.

"Oh yeah? Would you like to explain to Duncan your new friend as well?" Connor asked.

"Duncan's not going to find out about Shane," Amber said.

"Maybe not from you."

"Connor MacLeod, you tell Duncan what's going on and I swear I'll have you chopped up and buried before you know what hits you."

"Oh yeah? Well maybe I won't tell him, yet."

"You're a bastard you truly are," Amber said.

"And you are two steps away from being hided till you're black and blue," Connor added, "goodnight."

Amber stormed into the bedroom and laid a tray with the food down on her trunk beside the bed.

"What took so long?" Richie asked.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh, Connor came back and we got in a fight," Amber said, "then he decided to turn in for the night."

"A fight? What about?" Richie asked.

"Well…never mind, it's not important, how's Jeremy doing?"

"Well he was almost asleep until you came stomping up here," Richie said.

"Oh."

"Is everything allright with you?" Richie asked.

"Yeah, why?" Amber asked.

"Well, it's just that I've known Connor longer than you have and unless something's up, I can't think of any reason why he'd fight with you."

"Yeah well, Connor's a bastard and an old one at that. You get to be his age you probably become cranky too…" Amber went over to her bed, sat down on top of the covers and slid down into the pillows.

"Are you going back to bed?" Richie asked.

"Yeah," Amber replied, "I'm too tired to be pissed off…goodnight Richie."

"Goodnight."

"Richie…"

"Yeah?"

"Try to get some rest tonight, we'll be interviewing potential parents for Jeremy tomorrow."

"What? Already!" Richie asked.

"Yep, and that's courtesy of Sir Lancelot three doors down, goodnight."


	11. Chapter 11

"Fifteen people and I haven't seen anyone I'd trust," Richie said the next afternoon.

"I know," Amber said, "incase you're forgetting, I helped you make those decisions."

Methos entered the living room, "Well, how's it going?"

"It's not," Richie replied, "we've been here for two hours now and haven't found anyone good enough yet."

"If you intend to keep this up, it's going to be a very long day," Methos said, "you'll find something wrong with all of them…too strict, too laidback, too careful, too careless, too stupid, too controlling, too domineering, feel free to stop me any time."

"I agree," Amber said, "that's all I've been seeing today, airheads, drill sergeants, policemen, psychiatrists, drunks, bastards, assholes, the regular nine yard when it comes to parents."

"Excuse me?" Methos asked.

"Good parents are hard to find, they're practically a minority when it comes to families, none of them have bothered to show up for this either," Amber said.

"How many people has Connor seen so far?" Methos asked.

"Hell if I know," Richie said, "he sees them, then he just sends them in to see us."

Methos turned around and saw a lady coming, "And it's not over yet," he added.

"And you are?" Richie asked the lady.

"Noreen Collins."

The lady handed them a large brown envelope. Inside were papers telling about her background in work, school, and as a human being in general.

"You've already adopted kids," Amber read.

"That's right."

"Doesn't say how many."

"One boy and two girls."

"How old are they?"

"Charlie's fifteen now, and the girls are in their twenties."

"So why adopt someone so young?" Richie asked.

"It gets lonely without a child running around the house," she said.

"And are you a stay-at-home parent?" Amber asked.

"Oh goodness no, I love my kids, but I can't stay at home watching them all day, I have to have my own life you know."

"So you'd be gone for hours a day," Richie said.

"Well of course, I have to get out of the house."

"And who would be looking after Jeremy? You are aware that it costs a small fortune for a baby-sitter these days."

"Charlie would watch him," she said.

"Your fifteen year old?" Richie asked.

"That's right."

"So who would watch Jeremy while you're at work?" Richie asked.

"Well he'd be at school," Lorraine Parker said.

"A public school?"

"Of course, what's wrong with that?"

"When was the last time you attended a public school?" Amber asked.

"How many kids do you already have?" Richie asked.

"We have six."

"Are they all yours?"

"Three of the older ones are from foster care."

"How old are they?"

"Sixteen, fourteen, and eleven, why?"

"How many homes were they at before yours?" Amber asked.

"Twelve."

"You've never had any children before?" Amber asked.

"No, I was hoping I could get a start with this kid."

"Have you had any experience in the past with children?" Richie asked.

"Just my sisters."

"Well he's going to be a bit different, you know, he's a boy," Amber said.

"Oh I know, I just adore baby boys."

"Well he's not exactly a baby, he can walk, he's learning to talk, he has all his baby teeth and he's toilet trained."

"Has he learned to read yet?"

"Not yet but it won't be long," Amber said.

"I must say that I find it a bit unusual, if not downright odd that a child of his age hasn't learned to read yet."

"Lady, do you know how many seemingly intelligent adults can't read?" Amber asked.

"How's your eye looking?" Richie called from the living room.

"Repulsive just like the rest of me," Amber replied.

"Amber!"

"Well see for yourself, Richie."

Amber stepped into the room and revealed the purple bruise around her eye. Richie whistled, "hell of a shiner."

"Yeah, but on a plus side, that woman's doctor is going to have his hands full this week," Amber replied, "in between the tetanus shots, the rabies shots, the stitches, the layers of gauze, all the painkillers he'll have to prescribe, not to mention the mild reconstructive surgery to her face."

"I still don't believe you," Richie said.

"Richie, first she said Jeremy was dumb, then she accused me of being rude."

"You were!"

"I was not, I was merely stating the facts…let's face it, Richie, we haven't found ANYONE who's even close to what Jeremy needs."

"Sad but true," Richie said, "which reminds me…who has Jeremy right now?"

"Methos."

"Good."

"Yeah."

"Amber?"

"Hmmm?"

"What happened last night?"

"I told you."

"You told me you and Connor got in a fight, over what?"

"Nothing serious."

"He never threatened to beat me unless it was serious."

"Well maybe he just likes you better than he does me," Amber replied.

"I highly doubt that."

"Well I don't."

Methos came in the room with Jeremy on his shoulders, "How's it going?"

"Well, we've seen about thirty-five people now," Richie said.

"And still haven't found anyone," Amber added as she turned around.

Methos gasped and stepped back in exaggeration, "Good God, kid, what happened to you?"

"I got in a fight with an interviewee," Amber explained.

"Boy you must love Jeremy to do that," he said.

"Methos…I injured her, then I tripped and hit the coffee table," Amber said.

Methos looked to where the coffee table used to be, "And where is the coffee table now?" he asked.

"Fire place, for burning," Richie answered.

"Ah."

"How's Jeremy doing?"

"Clearly a hell of a lot better than you," Methos answered, "although he's been asking to see you."

"Well we ran out of interviewees for the moment so I guess we can have him here," Amber said as she took Jeremy from Methos.

"When's the next batch supposed to come in?" Richie asked.

"Next batch?" Methos repeated, "didn't you hear, kid? Connor's run out of people to interview for the time being."

"And what's that pain in the britches say?" Amber asked as she swung Jeremy around.

"He doesn't like any of them either," Methos said.

"You're kidding!"

"No, all those people who came in here were awful, bloody terrible parents, I don't know why the SRS hasn't had their arses hauled away to the state pen," Methos replied.

"Maybe they ARE the SRS," Amber said, "I used to know some members of them when I lived back in Jersey, they were the worst parents imaginable."

"Could be," Methos said.

"You know Richie, now that we've got some time on our hands for today, why don't we blow off this foster survey and take the kid to a movie?"

"What movie?"

"I don't know, there's gotta be something good showing," Amber said, "especially down at that fancy-shmancy place with ten theater rooms."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Richie said.

"Allright, we'll go to the one that shows the old movies, I hear they're showing the Great Dictator today," Amber replied, "you don't need us for anything else here, do you?"

"Not that I know of," Methos responded.

"Good, let's go, Richie."

"Wait a minute, Amber. Shouldn't you do something about your eye before we leave?" Richie asked.

"Why should I? I'm going to see a movie, not perform in one."

"Yeah, but if people see us together and you with a shiner, they're going to think I'm beating you."

"I'll tell them nobody in my family has been battered before marriage so until they see a ring on my finger, they can mind their own damn business," Amber replied.

Amber put Jeremy on the ground and both she and Richie took him by the hand as they headed out the door. Amanda came in the living room shortly after they left.

"They certainly seemed happy," Amanda said.

"Yes they are," Methos said.

"You didn't tell them," Amanda knew.

"I don't see any reason why I should," Methos replied, "it'll only make them upset, they'll become furious with us, they'll run away again and this time Jeremy may die if Richie's car crashes."

"Methos, we have to tell them, there's only a month left."

"I know, we have to tell them, and we will, but not today."

"A fine thing," Amber said, "we come down for the Great Dictator, what do we get? Have Rocket, Will Travel."

"It wasn't so bad."

"I guess not," Amber replied.

"What do we do now?" Richie asked.

"Well no one's come looking for us yet, so I say we kill some more time."

"Doing what?" Richie asked.

"Well we could go down to the bowling alley and…no wait, we're temporarily banned from there…well we could go to the pool hall and…no, that's a felony…well we could go to the public pool and…no again, it's too disgusting down there…"

"Boy it's hot today," Richie said.

"I know, fall ain't what it used to be…hey there's an idea!" Amber said.

"What?"

"Let's see if anyone's turning on the fire hydrants. I could use a bath anyway."

"Thanks but I really didn't need to know that," Richie said.

"Okay, wise-ass, you think of something," Amber said.

"I wish you wouldn't talk that way in front of Jeremy, Amber," Richie said.

"I'm not saying anything that he isn't going to be learning anyway, better he learns it from his parents. He'll know what NOT to say that way."

"Well since you want to know," Richie said, "maybe we should take him to the park."

"We can't go back there, the cops said they'd shoot us if we went back to the park," Amber replied.

"A fine thing," Richie said.

"Hey, maybe we should head down to the beach," Amber said.

"We can't do that right now," Richie said, "I heard on the radio today that they're having a severe problem with water moccasins today."

"Cottonmouth?"

"What?"

"The cottonmouth water moccasins on the poisonous ones," Amber explained.

"They didn't say, in any case you wouldn't want to risk it, YOU wouldn't even want to go down there with them, you're terrified of all snakes."

"Just the adult ones."

"Well do you mind if I ask you a question?" Richie asked.

"Yes you may," Amber replied.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Richie asked.

By 'doing that', Richie meant Amber carrying Jeremy on her hip like a mother does with a very young child.

"Call it what you will but I like having him RIGHT where I know he's safe," Amber said.

"I realize that Amber, but the boy is six, he has to walk on his own sometime," Richie replied in a bit of a cynical tone.

"Besides," Amber ignored him, "Methos told me in a recent study it shows that children whose parents pick them up and carry them around, and have them on their laps, well they grow up smarter than they would have if we did not."

"You really believe that?" Richie asked.

"I about have to, my parents always had me with them, and you've seen how I've turned out…okay so I'm not all that smart, but I imagine I could've turned out a lot worse…besides, we don't know what Jeremy's parents did with him so we don't know if they ever did that, and if not…well maybe it's not too late."

"I'd say he's a very smart kid for his age," Richie said.

"Yeah? Can you imagine the gall of that woman we interviewed earlier?" Amber asked, "'it's a bit odd that he hasn't learned to read yet'," Amber said, impersonating the woman.

"When did you learn to read?" Richie asked.

"I don't know…it's weird, when I was younger, I could read, but I always let someone read to me…I liked how they did it."

"I think I was a little older than Jeremy…it was awhile before anybody thought to teach me anything."

"You see? We both turned out allright, more or less, considering everything we've gone through…I think Jeremy will turnout allright too."

"You really think so?" Richie asked.

"As long as he's got us looking out for him…yes," Amber replied.

"So what now?" Richie asked.

"We're back!" Richie called as he and Amber stepped in the front door.

"They're here," Duncan whispered from in the kitchen.

"Showtime," Amanda replied.

"Why do I have to do this?" Methos asked.

"Methos! You here?" Richie called.

"Yes!" Methos replied, "I'm coming."

Methos looked regretful as he entered the dining room, "Richie…"

"Methos, there's a rally tonight down at the racetracks, you wanna come with us?" Richie asked.

"Uh, Richie…"

"How about the motorcycle race tomorrow night?" Amber asked.

"Uh…"

"Amber, Methos isn't too crazy about motorcycles," Richie explained.

"Oh okay, tomorrow night they're going to show "Daughter of Horror" down at the Black and White All Night Theater, you wanna see it?" Amber asked.

"Or how about instead we go to the ballgame on Friday?" Richie asked.

"Well," Methos said.

Richie and Amber looked at Methos, expecting an answer, and Jeremy, who Amber was still holding, looked up at the ceiling. Duncan and Amanda stayed in the kitchen, waiting for Methos to explain.

"Actually…" Methos said, "I'd…I'd…I have a few hundred reports to flunk between now and Friday, but yeah, sure…I'll go with you."

"To what?" Amber asked.

"All of them…"

"And Jeremy's coming too," Amber said, "he's not going to miss a good time like this."

"I agree," Methos said.

"Damn it," Duncan said as he slapped himself in the forehead, "he did it again."

"It's not an easy responsibility, Duncan…you wanna tell them?" Amanda asked.

"If I have to."

"From the looks of it, you will," Amanda said as she watched the activities in the next room.

"So Methos, did anyone else come by while we were gone?" Amber asked.

"No," Methos replied, "nobody else has asked about Jeremy."

"So…" Amber hesitated, "does this mean we get to keep him?"

"Well Connor going over a few who he thought were good, so he gave them a 30-day notice to decide who's the best choice," Methos explained.

"Oh."

"But I think it'll be a keep in the end," Methos said.

"Good," Richie said.

"Methos," Amber said as she handed Jeremy to Richie.

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For everything," Amber said, "I know we kinda dropped this whole thing on you like a bombshell in the beginning, and considering you're not as passive as you seem, it would've been expected if you hadn't helped us."

"Why would I do that?"

"Maybe because I figure after being around Mac so long you'd be like him, and want to do the 'practical' thing, instead of what's right."

"I may have let that Scottish frog grow on me like a wart in some places, but I'd never do that."

"I know, thanks…"

Amber put her arms around Methos and gripped tightly as she picked him up and squeezed the air out of him.

"Put me down, kid," he said in a garbled voice, "put me down!"

"Sorry."

Amber let go of Methos and he dropped almost like a sack of potatoes. Richie and Amber went upstairs with Jeremy, Methos turned and headed back into the kitchen.

"You didn't do it!" Duncan groaned.

"I couldn't," Methos replied, "sorry MacLeod, but I suppose what Kronos said about me when we first met was right."

"What's that?" Amanda asked.

"I am nothing more than a spineless, cowardly, gutless worm."

"Kronos said that about you and he still took you?" Duncan asked.

"Yes…he decided he could beat me into shape," Methos said.

"But he didn't," Amanda said.

"Not completely."

"Methos!"

"I'm sorry MacLeod, but I'm not the one who decided that it would happen this way. You want them to be told, you tell them, I can't…there is a lot I can do by will and by force, but either way, I won't tell them that before the end of the month, that boy won't be living here anymore."

Methos headed up the backstairs, leaving Duncan and Amanda in the kitchen.

"Well Duncan, what're you going to do?" Amanda asked, "who's going to tell them?"

"You know what, Richie," Amber said.

"What?"

"I have a friend who I think would be interested in going to the rally with us tonight," Amber said.

"Is it anyone I know?" Richie asked.

"No, I met him recently," Amber replied, "but I think he'll enjoy the show."

"Well, what's he like?" Richie asked.

"He's…loud…and large…and very, very enthusiastic about just about everything."

"Do you think he'll like being around Methos and myself?" Richie asked.

"Why do you ask that?"

"Well if he's your boyfriend, he may be uncomfortable with the two of us around," Richie said.

"Fuck, Richie, he's not my boyfriend, he's a guy I met at the cemetery the other day," Amber said.

"The cemetery? How quaint."

"Richie, he…it's a long story," Amber said.

"I imagine, and I also don't want to hear about it," Richie said, "well, looks like Jeremy's due for a bath."

Richie picked Jeremy up and carried him into the bathroom and shut the door.

There was a knock at the bedroom door, Amber turned around and Connor came in.

"Amber, are you busy?" he asked.

"No, why?"

"There's something I think you ought to know."

"Connor, I already know you have polka dots on your underwear, that's nothing new."

"Not that, about Jeremy."

"Oh, about Jeremy," Amber mimicked, "Connor, I bet I know what it is."

"I don't think you do," Connor replied.

"Yeah, sure, you think Jeremy's too young to go see a monster truck rally, but Connor, it's perfectly allright, nobody's going to get hurt, well unless someone down there tries to do something stupid."

"Amber, that's not it," Connor said.

"It isn't?" Amber asked.

"No…" Connor hesitated for a minute, "I talked to this lady who wants to take Jeremy in, she seems to be the best I've seen all day and I think he stands a chance with her."

"Oh?"

"She works for the social services."

"And you think that's good?" Amber asked.

"She knows what these kids go through," Connor said.

"Yes, Connor, of course she would know, they always know, but they never do anything, dammit! They don't care, it's just their job to see how they're doing now and again, they don't care if the place is a hellhole or if the father's a bastard or if they're bleeding on the carpet, just so long as they drop in and see them," Amber said, "and you seriously want to send Jeremy to live with this lady?"

"Amber, I know you don't like the idea of it, mainly because you don't want Jeremy staying with anyone else, but you have to believe me, it's for the best," Connor said.

Amber looked at him for a minute, not saying anything, not moving an inch, her eyes stared at him the entire time, never blinking. Finally she said in a low, quiet voice, "Damn you."

"Amber you know we can't very well take care of Jeremy like regular people, especially like this lady can," Connor said.

"Damn you," Amber repeated, this time in a louder voice.

"Amber, would you think practically for a minute? We don't get to be parents in our lives, we don't have kids, we don't raise them, we don't get to live happily ever after."

"DAMN YOU!" Amber exploded, "Damn you Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, born 1518 in the village of Glenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel, I don't care how old you are or how much you've learned or what you think you know. Damn it! It isn't as if he is ours, biologically, I'm not saying that, I'm saying with us, this kid actually had a chance, and you've destroyed it."

"Amber you don't know what you're talking about!" Connor said, "how can you possibly protect Jeremy from your enemies? You'd never know until it was too late."

"Is that what you think about Rachel? Do you think she was a mistake?" Amber asked.

Amber never saw it coming, but in the blink of an eye, her jaw met with Connor's callused fist as it knocked her against the wall.

"DON'T YOU EVER TALK THAT WAY ABOUT MY DAUGHTER!" Connor exploded.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh," Amber said as she pulled herself out of the wall, "Rachel's YOUR daughter, but Jeremy is a mistake, is that it? Why? Just because she's dead and Jeremy isn't?"

"Rachel wasn't brought into my family through a kidnapping, Amber," Connor hissed.

"If Richie did anything to Jeremy, it was get him out of that madhouse and do him a favor…maybe even saved his life…if we're going to burn for that, I don't see any reason to apologize…is that what bothers you? That it's not legal?" Amber asked, "Guess what, Connor? You're trying to get this kid adopted into a new family without even considering his biological one, meaning he's still 'kidnapped', which would make you an accomplice AND his owner who's handing him over to someone else. If Richie and I HAVE to go down for this, we're taking you with us, make no mistake."

"You will never understand," Connor said.

"Damn you, Connor," Amber said in a more relaxed tone, "why did you have to be like all the rest? Dammit, why did you have to be like Mac? Why can't you see it through our eyes? Dammit I counted on you to knock some sense into Mac, and tell him he was crazy saying we should get rid of Jeremy. I counted on you to come down here and set him straight, but you're just like him. You won't do what needs to be done because it's not how you believe it should be done."

"Amber, it's not fair to Jeremy that he should live with people who can't fairly protect him because of the enemies they've made."

"I wouldn't have made ANY enemies like this if it weren't for the Game, or did you forget, Connor, that that's where we make most of our enemies?"

"The Game chose us, there's nothing that can change that, it was determined from the day you were born what your life would be like. Why do you act like the rules don't apply to you?" Connor asked.

"Maybe because I see my existence as an Immortal as being a mistake."

"A mistake?" Connor repeated.

"That's right. The way I see it is somebody else should've gotten my rotten luck of this damn immortality."

"You mean to tell me that you'd rather be dead and a rotten corpse in the ground for over a year now?" Connor asked.

"I'd rather you didn't decide that Jeremy was going to be taken away from us is what I'd rather have. But you took care of all that, just like you always do…for that, Connor MacLeod, I hate you, I hate you and I believe I always will."

Amber turned and headed for the window, Connor went after her and pulled her back. "You're not going anywhere."

"Connor MacLeod, I have just one thing to say to you," Amber said, "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you drop dead!"

With that, Amber turned and headed out the window, Connor stood where he was, thinking to himself, "I wish it were that easy."


	12. Chapter 12

Amber wasn't sure how far she'd gone, it didn't matter, she couldn't go back now, not after what she did. She stopped long enough to see what time it was, 6:30 P.M. She'd been gone for about an hour, and it was already starting to get dark out. Black clouds were rolling into white clouds at a fast pace, a storm was coming in, but she didn't let that stop her, she just kept running. No one had come after her, meaning no one was looking for her, which was probably for the better, if they were after her, that meant she'd have to go home again, and she couldn't go back. If Richie hadn't been informed of Connor's decision by now, he would be soon, and then what would come from that, only God knew what would happen then.

As it got darker, she continued to run, as she jumped the curb at the end of a block, she tripped and fell, bashing her lower body against the concrete pavement. Forcing herself up, she started running again. She came across a black metal fence and jumped it, when she turned around she realized she was in a cemetery.

"Oh shit," she said. This was becoming too familiar for comfort.

By now, the storm was starting, lightning struck mere seconds apart from the crashing thunder. Amber decided the only thing she could do now was wait until the storm died down to pick up again, by this time anyway she covered some ground. Amber rested beside a tomb and she looked over from her and saw something familiar. Across from her were two tombstones right side by side, in front of them were crosses with Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. She'd seen the same dolls and the same tombs somewhere before. She got an idea and went to the front gate to the cemetery and leaned over the gate to read the sign on the side: Eternal Serenity Cemetery.

"Shane," she said in relief as she slipped off the gate.

That sparked a question in her mind, was Shane even around? He said he usually woke up at sundown, but with the storm coming in, he might've gotten up and left sooner than usual. She headed over to where she'd seen Rachel's grave and saw the same epitaph on the stone. Rachel was still buried there, but Shane wasn't around. The storm was getting worse and Amber decided the best thing to do was to stay there and wait until morning to take off again.

"Connor, what the hell did you say to her to make her leave?" Richie asked.

"The same thing I'm about to tell you," Connor said, "and you better not run out of here."

"Why would I do that?" Richie asked.

"Probably because you won't like what I have to say."

"I haven't liked anything you've said since you got here, what's the point?" Richie asked.

"The point is that within a couple of weeks, Jeremy won't be here anymore, he won't be living with you," Connor said.

"What?" Richie asked, "I don't believe you, Connor…Methos told us no one had been good enough."

"Of course he would, do you truly expect that jellyfish you call family to be honest with you?" Connor asked, "He couldn't bring himself to tell you the truth."

"I can't believe what you're telling me, Connor."

"Richie, Jeanessa Wilcox works for the social services, she sees all sorts of cases that you would not believe, she'll know what to do with Jeremy."

"How can you say that?" Richie demanded.

"Because she wouldn't be held for kidnapping!" Connor said.

"It doesn't matter what she could do, by law, he's already been kidnapped and nothing and no social worker can change that, he has to stay here where we can protect him!" Richie said.

"We can't protect him!" Connor replied.

"Maybe you can't! But I can…I have been, I've protected him from the law and his parents and the state and the welfare people since I brought him home with me!"

"Yes but how long could that have lasted, Richie?" Connor asked, "You haven't been to school since you brought him back, you've barely left your room, do you really think you could go on for the rest of your life like that?"

"Not for the rest of my life, only around 12 years, but that's beside the point, if it's something I'd have to do, I'd do it, damn it Connor, you had no right to do this! Absolutely no right!"

"Richie, we can't keep Jeremy here, it's illegal!" Connor said.

"So would handing him over to someone who wants him as their own, social worker or not."

"Yes, but she can take care of that in a way that we can't, she can draw up the proper paperwork, talk to the right attorneys, his parents couldn't possibly get him back now but she could adopt him legally as her own," Connor said.

"Then why can't we? Why can't she help us with the paperwork and the attorneys?" Richie asked.

"Because it doesn't work that way," Connor said, "we don't get to be parents…"

"And I suppose we don't have families or loved ones too, right?" Richie asked.

"That's beside the point."

"How?"

"Richie…"

"Connor, Immortals are allowed to marry, right?" Richie asked.

"Of course."

"Originally marriage was only allowed so that the couple could have children, if we can't do that, then why bother getting married?" Richie asked.

"It was different then. Marriage isn't what it used to be."

"Nothing is what it used to be, even the law isn't. Damn it, Connor, if people can have kid smuggled in and out of the country for whatever reason they have, then why can't I keep Jeremy with me?"

"I think you know why," Connor replied.

"And I think I see now why Amber ran off when she did," Richie said, "when's this lady coming for Jeremy?"

"In about two weeks I'll give her a call and tell her," Connor said.

"Well then you better get all your legal business and your priorities in order, because if that happens, God forbid, Amber, or myself, or maybe both of us, will kill you."

Connor was silent for a minute, "I know you don't like this, Richie."

"You're damn right about that."

"Believe it or not, I don't like it either, Richie…I wish there was another way, I wish you could keep Jeremy…"

"Maybe we can," Richie said.

"What?" Connor asked.

"Amber…I know a way we could keep Jeremy, but it would mean we wouldn't be able to return to the states."

"What?"

"We could pack up, get our passports and everything in order, and just head to Belize, the law can't touch us there," Richie said.

The sound Connor made almost sounded like a laugh, a mocking laugh though. "Are you serious?"

"Connor, you know we don't want anyone else to take him."

"But leaving the country?"

"Not forever, just until people our ages are supposed to die, then we get some new identities, new lives, and we can come back here and start over…and maybe not, maybe we'll go to London, or Paris, maybe Bora Bora even…"

"Another thing, how would you explain to Jeremy everybody else getting older, but not you?"

"The same way you ever explained it to anybody, or like Mac explained to Tessa…I'll find a way, but Connor, I can't just roll over and let this lady take Jeremy. Whether it's right or not…I don't care, it's a matter of principle."

"I understand, I can't very well tell you what to do but if I may express a personal opinion on this, I still think that skipping the country would be a mistake."

"Any way you look at it Connor, there's no way out…either we do something that we won't be able to return to the country, we stay in the country, meet up with the law, take our licks and lose Jeremy, or let this welfare lady come in and we still lose Jeremy. No matter what, we lose one way or another."

The storm had stayed pretty much the same, a lot of thunder and lightning, some strong winds, but no rain or hail. Amber had fallen asleep beside a tombstone and didn't notice as the thunder built up, or as the lightning became brighter, or as another Immortal came onto the cemetery grounds. She didn't notice it until she felt the cold tip of a blade meeting with her neck. She woke up and slowly tilted her head to look down and then tilted her head up and saw Shane standing over her.

"Good to see you too," she said.

"What're you doing here?" Shane asked.

"That's a long story."

"Oh," Shane replied as he put the sword away, "Is Jeremy here?"

"No, Shane, he's not."

"Oh, where is he?" Shane asked.

"He's at home with Richie for the time being," Amber replied.

Lightning lit up the sky as thunder roared once again. Shane looked up at the sky and back at Amber, "What're you doing out in this weather?"

"I ran out of the house, I didn't pay any attention to where I was going, I just kept running, and I finally ended up here," Amber explained.

"Why'd you do that?" Shane asked.

"Because I couldn't stand listening to Connor," Amber said.

"What's he say?"

Amber told Shane the entire story.

"Can he do that?" Shane asked.

"Not legally, but from what I understand, she can see to all the legal stuff and have it taken care of so that she will be his guardian," Amber replied.

"I'm sorry."

"I can't go back there, Shane…not now, not after what I did…I'll pick up and leave in the morning after the storm blows over, can I stay here for the night?"

"You can't very well go anywhere else," Shane replied, "not now anyway."

Amber sank down to the ground and leaned against the tombstone, "This has been a nightmare of mine for the last week."

"What?" Shane asked.

"When Richie brought Jeremy home, I had a few regrets about what happened, but the worst thing I figured that could happen was that we'd lose Jeremy in the end," Amber explained, "you know, in the beginning we were just looking out for Jeremy and making sure nobody got him. But as the days went by, we became the replacements for his parents. Richie loved him from the start, I could see that, if they've told him by now, he must be taking this a hell of a lot harder than I am. He truly sees Jeremy as if being his own son. To him, it's more than just protecting the kid, it's his chance at being a parent, he had that chance once before but he lost it. He couldn't protect a mortal woman and her baby."

"And it's different this time?" Shane asked.

"Very different. Everything was different this time."

"So what happens now?" Shane asked.

"She's been gone for over an hour and you're not going to look for her?" Methos asked.

"She wants to be a wise-ass, I say let her," Connor said.

"Meanwhile what are you going to be doing?" Methos asked.

"Reconsidering how long I'm going to wait before I give Jeanessa the final say on this," Connor said.

"Oh yeah?" Richie spat as he came out of his room, "You do and I'll see to it personally that your head's rolling around in a basket."

"Stay out of this, Richie," Methos said, "where's Jeremy?"

"I put him down for the night, he's exhausted."

"Well go back in there and keep an eye on him," Methos said, "make sure he doesn't disappear too."

"Allright, I'm going, I'm going," Richie replied as he turned around and headed back in his room.

Methos muttered something to himself as he headed over to the head of the stairs and leaned over the banister and yelled down, "MacLeod!"

"What are you doing?" Connor asked as he went over to him.

"You'll find out soon enough…MacLeod!"

"You think Duncan's going to listen to you?" Connor asked.

"Yes," Methos hissed, "MACLEOD!"

"What is it, Methos?" Duncan asked as he entered the hallway.

"Get up here! I'd like to have a word with you," Methos sneered.

Duncan headed up to the head of the stairs and found himself standing between the other two Immortals, "What's going on?"

"Would you like to guess where your daughter is?" Methos asked.

"My da…Amber?"

"Well I don't mean Lillian Gish."

"I don't know, where is she?" Duncan asked.

"That's what I was going to ask you," Methos said, "all the same, your guess would be as good as mine."

"What?"

"She took off and left."

"What? When?"

"Around an hour ago."

"Okay, WHY?"

"You can thank this ancient pain in the breeches for that," Methos pointed at Connor, "once he told her the news, she stormed off."

"That's not true, first she cursed them, then she insulted me, then she assaulted me, THEN she took off," Connor said.

"I don't believe this!" Duncan turned to Connor, "And you didn't go after her?"

"Why should I? She's not my daughter, she's not my responsibility, besides, if she wants to act like she can stand being out there, I say let her."

"Connor, you idiot!" Duncan said, "Don't you know what she could come across?"

"You mean more than just a few thousand bolts of lightning I presume," Connor guessed.

"Good guess, now perhaps you'd like to try for the door prize and tell us who's going to kill her out there since she's not carrying her sword," Methos said.

"What's going on?" Richie asked as he came out of the room again.

"Get back in there!" Methos commanded.

"Methos!" Duncan said, "Richie, we're going out to look for Amber."

"Well I should hope so, after what happened anything could've happened to her," Richie said.

"We'll be back when we find her," Duncan said as he headed into his bedroom and slipped on his coat, "Any idea where she'd go?"

"There could be a hundred places in this town where she'd go," Methos replied, "even so, that won't be far enough to look, she could cross town and be in Miami or Jacksonville, hell, maybe even Orlando by the time we find her."

"Oh great, where do we start?" Duncan asked.

"I don't know, Richie do you know anywhere she might go in particular?" Methos asked.

"Your guess is as good as…" an idea struck Richie, "the rally."

"What?" Duncan asked.

"The monster truck rally tonight, she was going to go there anyway, you might check there first," Richie said.

"Right," Duncan and Methos said in unison.

"Maybe I should…" Richie started.

"Get back in there!" Methos barked.

Richie grunted as he turned and headed back in the bedroom. Methos headed into his room to get his coat, and more preferably his sword.

"Are you coming too, Connor?" Duncan asked.

"Ha!" Methos scoffed, "asking him to come after the trouble he's caused…that's like trusting a cat to watch over a canary without eating it."

"Well let's not waste any time, she could be anywhere," Duncan said as he headed down the stairs.

"That's right, and I shudder to think the predicament she's in right now," Methos said as he glared into Connor's eyes before he joined Duncan.

Connor heard Duncan and Methos talk briefly to Amanda before they headed out the door. She came up the stairs to demand an explanation, Connor went to his room and locked the door before she had that chance. Richie came out of his room as she asked what had happened. He had her come into his room and he shut the door behind him. HE sat at the foot of the bed and Amanda paced back and forth as he calmly explained everything that had happened, the best he could. It was enough, it didn't answer all her questions, but it was enough to know why they Duncan and Methos had left when they had.

"I see," was all she said as she joined Richie at the foot of the bed.

The sudden shift in the weight disturbed Jeremy's sleep. He rolled on his back and rubbed his eyes before he sat up, "Where's Mommy?"

Amanda looked at Richie for a minute, not sure what or if either of them should say anything. Richie got up and walked over to the head of the bed to look Jeremy in the eyes.

"Well Jeremy, your mommy's kinda stepped out for a while," Richie calmly explained.

"With a man?" Jeremy asked.

Richie had learned bit by bit over the last week what Jeremy had seen in his old home, and he was shocked that Jeremy could even still appear to be normal. This only proved to be further incriminating evidence of what kind of people he'd lived with.

"No, Jeremy, your mommy's gone off on her own, we're not exactly sure where she is right now, or what she's doing, she didn't tell us she was leaving," Richie said.

"Will she be coming back pretty soon?" Jeremy asked.

Richie sighed, "Well I don't know."

"Aren't you worried for her to be out by herself?" Jeremy asked.

"Well I…I guess I am, Jeremy. It's pretty dangerous for her out there right now."

"I know…" Jeremy started wiggling around on the bed to get to the end of it, "I'm not afraid, I'll go find her."

"No Jeremy," Richie's voice grew louder as he tried to make his point clear, "you can't go out after her."

"She's my Mommy, she's lost and I need to find her," Jeremy argued.

"Jeremy, your mother is a…well almost a grown woman, you on the other hand are just a child."

"But you don't understan', Daddy…I promised that if Mommy ever ran away I'd find her, I gotta find her," Jeremy replied.

"He's very persistent for six, don't you agree?" Amanda asked, "let me try something…Jeremy, your mommy's in a lot of danger being out by herself, but if you went out, you'd be in a lot more danger than she is. There are people who could find your mother, but there's even more people who are out to get you, that's why you have to stay here with us. Your mommy will be back soon, but it won't do her any good if you're missing when she comes back, okay?"

Jeremy thought for a minute, "O-tay Grandma."

Amanda looked up at Richie, momentarily in shock by what Jeremy had just said. She's certainly never considered herself a grandmother to anybody, especially not to Jeremy since he never called her that.

"It's getting late, Jeremy, you should go back to sleep," Amanda said.

"O-tay…" Jeremy rolled around on the bed until he found a comfortable spot, then he turned on his side and looked at Richie, "Daddy?"

"Yes Jeremy?"

"Will Mommy come home soon?"

"I sure hope so," Richie replied.

Jeremy drifted off to sleep, Richie looked over at the clock, it was going on 8:30. Amber had been missing for more than just an hour by now, but none of them actually knew how long.

The storm seemed to have lightened up, the thunder and lightning had stopped, and it seemed that the setting sunlight was shining through the clouds now, part of it lit up the cemetery. Amber looked around and saw that the wind was still heavy as ever. She thought for a minute, it almost looked like the setting of Night of the Living Dead.

"Bloody hell's all I need now is for the dead to start coming out of the ground," Amber said to herself, "I already went through that once and that was enough for me."

Shane came up behind her and said, "What's that?"

"Oh I was just thinking," Amber responded, "Shane, do you remember how you died the first time?"

"I thought I told you."

"Maybe you did and I just forgot, I don't know…"

"How did you die?" Shane asked.

"Remember that guy I told you about? Mario Venvetta?"

"Yeah."

"Well I have another question, did you ever see that movie Night of the Living Dead?"

"Yes."

"Allright, well," Amber leaned back against the tomb and added a bit of cynicism to her tone, "this guy Mario finds the bodies of all the Immortals that Mac and Richie have ever killed, and he found a way to reanimate them, as they were almost alive. And, just like the movie, the only way you could kill them this time was to either burn them or damage the brain…so we got our guns and a bunch of Molotov cocktails and we got the hell out of there. The problem was there were too many corpses to keep an eye on, one grabbed me from behind and bit me on the shoulder. Well, if you remember the movie as well as I do, you know that there's a…a venom, or a plague, something the zombies carried that passed through to the victims. Nobody had it in them to amputate my arm, so…that's how I died…"

"I'm surprised," Shane sounded astonished, "I never knew anyone who met that kind of fate."

"Fate can be a real puzzle," Amber laughed, "mortals think they'll live forever, live for the day, and they die, we think we're facing death square in the eye and we wake up and leave."

"What was it like?" Shane asked.

"Well it wasn't so bad once we got his teeth out of my shoulder…but then when the rigor mortis set in, that was a different story, ooh I hurt, like one big labor pain in my entire body I'm guessing…I…I still have some marks where he bit me if you'd be interested in seeing."

Amber rolled up the sleeve on her shirt and revealed her shoulder, there were a few fine lines imbedded in the skin.

"I thought we were supposed to heal from all injuries," Shane said.

"Normally we do, but nowhere in the rules to the Game did I ever hear of decapitated corpses, who have lost their Quickenings, and been buried for years, returning to life."

"That wasn't too long ago, was it?" Shane asked.

"Nope…that same night I revived and killed Mario Venvetta, shortly afterwards, we all went our separate ways…then we met up again."

"And," Shane said, "I'm not guessing that during that time you'd ever guess that one day you'd be a parent."

"No," Amber replied, "until last week I gave VERY little thought to the idea of even being a parent…I mean, except for a few random thoughts here and there, and after Mario raped me, well…that was before I knew about Immortals and being barren, don't get me wrong, I didn't enjoy it at all, but I figured if anything had to come from it, and it'd be a kid…well I wasn't going to get rid of it because of its father."

"Personally I think that's good."

"Anyway, when I found out I wasn't…well I never actually found out, but I knew within time. That was about the last time I ever gave a thought to being a parent."

"Before Jeremy," Shane said.

"Yeah, before Jeremy…now it looks like it'll be that way again," Amber replied, "I can count on one hand the times I gave any thought to being a mother…I can't begin to imagine how many times Richie considered being a father."

"I don't imagine this being easy on either of you," Shane said.

"You know, before, when something happened and Richie went into this…state that he just decided he'd stay in bed and hide out from the rest of the world, I was always able to get him through it. It was usually girl problems, that was easy to get him through, because they're always there…but this is different, Jeremy I can't replace like I could Kim Jamison, or whoever he was seeing…I don't know how I'm going to get him through this if I can't get myself through it."

Duncan and Methos slowly and reluctantly entered through the front door.

"Where is she?" Amanda asked.

"We couldn't find her anywhere," Methos explained sadly.

"Oh God," she gasped, "Do you think something happened?"

"I don't know…" Duncan replied.

"Maybe you missed someplace, where all did you look?" Amanda asked.

"Bars, theaters, the junkyard…the church, we thought she might've gone to the church…"

"Which church?" Amanda asked.

"Every one we could find, Baptist, Christian, Episcopal, Methodist, hell, we even checked the Catholic church and the Masonic temple…" Methos explained.

"Why in the hell would she go to those?" Amanda asked.

"We were trying to think if she got in trouble. Holy Ground is Holy Ground."

"If you can call those Holy Ground, you're crazy," Amanda said.

"What?" Duncan asked.

"She has a point, MacLeod," Methos said, "you take the churches that are built on cult traditions and customs, technically speaking, church or no church, it's not Holy Ground, so even if she had gone to those she would have been helpless."

"Well aren't you just a bundle of joy tonight?" Duncan asked.

"Give me a break, Duncan…Amber's lost, Jeremy's going to be handed over to some fucking welfare lady, Richie's about to lose his mind, and you and your cousin can only think about what's the practical thing to do. Considering our current situation," Methos said, "WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER PRACTICAL NOW?"

"Are you sure you looked everywhere she might go?" Amanda asked.

"Yes," Duncan replied.

"I mean, did you check with the police station, or the hospital, or the morgue?" Amanda asked.

"No Amanda," Duncan replied bitterly, "Why would I do…oh!"

"Yes, oh!" Amanda mimicked, "If she did run into trouble, she might have survived for now."

"I'll check with the hospital," Methos said, "if she's there…nobody's going to be getting any rest tonight."

"I'll check with the police," Duncan added.

As Duncan headed for the door, he turned on his heel and looked back at Amanda, "You know something, Amanda?"

"What?"

"It's times like these I wish there were more Immortals at the college, maybe they'd know something," Duncan said as he turned back around.

"Duncan!"

"What? What!"

"Never mind, I'll call her classmates, get going," Amanda replied.

Duncan turned back around and headed out the door. Amanda headed over to the phone and picked up the receiver, but immediately slammed it down, "Damn phone lines must be down."

Richie came down the stairs very carefully and very quietly, "What's going on?" he whispered as he peered over the banister.

"They're going out to look for Amber again," Amanda replied quietly, "Where's Jeremy?"

"He finally fell asleep again," Richie said as he came down and headed to the dining room, "He keeps insisting on going out to look for Amber."

"It's not hard to understand, that's his mother out there, he's worried about her," Amanda said.

"I know, but Amanda…you have to remember, Amber's not his mother, I'm not his father, we aren't his parents, we're just two complete strangers who never knew him before, who are protecting him from his real parents," Richie said, raising his voice a bit.

"Do you need to rub it in? I would think the thought of that alone would be salt in your wounds," Amanda said.

"Amanda, I'm scared to death here…allright? Amber is out there somewhere, she may even be dead by now…Jeremy, is going to be taken away to a home where the lady who's going to be his guardian won't give a damn about what happens to him…the people I used to know as my family is falling apart and ready to kill each other because of him. Amanda, what am I going to do?" Richie asked, "Any way you look at it, I lose."

Amanda saw tears welling up in Richie's eyes. She took him in her arms and softly cradled his head against the nape in her neck.

"I know, Richie," Amanda replied, "I know."

"Amanda," Richie pulled away, "I just don't get it, did I do something wrong? Was I supposed to just let them move Jeremy to a foster home?"

Richie moved back and into the living room with Amanda following him.

"Do you really believe that?" Amanda asked.

"Can you think of another reason why all our lives have turned out like this?" Richie asked.

"Richie, our lives aren't ruined, sure we've been doing a lot more arguing with one another than we usually do, but that's just because we don't know what's best for Jeremy…he deserves to live with someone who can protect him…but you know…if you could have him here a week without any of us knowing…I don't know anyone who could do it better…"

"Amanda…I feel awful, what am I going to do?" Richie asked.

"Well Richie, I've been thinking about that…if we have to, we'll have Methos pose as our attorney, we'll take this lady to court for custody. After all they can't possibly hand him back over to his parents, it was in the paper this morning that they're getting twelve years for drugs."

"Twelve years?" Richie asked.

"Yeah, people may not think it's a big deal, but apparently the law does."

"Amanda, that's a problem, the law isn't going to see this as a good thing what we've done, what I've done. There was no legal work to it, they're going to charge me for kidnapping, and all of you for aiding and abating."

"You don't know, maybe we'll get lucky," Amanda said, "maybe the judge will be somebody we know. You know that often comes in handy."

"I wouldn't give much for my chances," Richie replied.

"Richie…"

"What?"

"Don't you find something a bit ironic?"

"Like what?"

"Like his parents aren't going to get out of prison until he's 18 and can decide for himself what he wants to do with his life," Amanda suggested.

"What?" Richie asked, "you think that's a sign or something?"

"It may be," Amanda replied.

Richie heckled, "I think you've been listening to Amber's spiritual mumbo jumbo too long."

"Maybe Richie, but it makes you think…maybe there's a reason why you were at 98th street that night, and maybe there's a reason why out of all those people, NOBODY saw you take Jeremy. Did you ever think about that?"

"No, I just thought it was weird."

"Daddy!" they heard Jeremy call.

"Not again," Richie moaned.

Jeremy came out into the hallway and made his way down the stairs one at a time. "Daddy, is it morning yet?"

"Not yet, Jeremy, go back to bed," Richie answered.

"Daddy," Jeremy repeated as he came into the living room.

"Yes?"

Richie and Amanda resisted laughing at the sight of Jeremy in one of Amber's T-shirts, much too large for him, and holding a stuffed green and white striped fish by the tail. His hair was standing up on one side and was in knots on the other, and his eyes were half-opened, only pointing out his exhaustion. It was an adorable sight and both Immortals had to bite the inside of their mouths to keep from saying anything, or laughing.

"Is Mommy back yet?"

"No, not yet," Richie responded.

"When will she be coming home?" Jeremy asked.

"Soon," Amanda answered before Richie could.

"Daddy."

"Yes?"

"Could I stay up until Mommy comes home?"

"No you can not," Amanda answered, "and do you know why? Because if your mommy comes home and finds out you're up past your bedtime, she'll see to it you never do it again that's what she'll do. Now you go on back to bed and your daddy will be up in a while."

"Okay Grandma."

Jeremy turned back around and went into the hall and again took the stairs one at a time.

Richie sighed and fell on the couch with Amanda right beside him.

"He really is a dear, Richie," Amanda said.

"I know."

"He'd be fine living with you," Amanda added.

"You think?"

"I know."

"Amanda, this is a mess," Richie said.

"I know."

"What am I going to do if they do take Jeremy? For that matter, what will I do if I get custody of him? And what am I going to do if we don't find Amber?"

"Richie…everything's going to work out within time…for now, you just have to calm down," Amanda said, "why don't you go on up and go to bed? Maybe if you do, Jeremy will stay in bed this time."

"I don't know what it could hurt," Richie said, "at this rate I'm willing to try about anything."

Richie pulled himself up off the couch and headed into the hall. He headed up to their room, closed the door behind him, he headed over to the bed where Jeremy was laying with his face buried in the pillows. Richie sat on the end of the bed and pulled off his boots. He went over to the window, the storm had really built up in the last couple of hours. The fine mixture of loud thunder, bright lightning, strong winds and heavy rain all made to worry him even more so that something had happened to Amber. She'd been gone for hours and no one had found her.

With the downpour of rain, it was practically enough to flood the cemetery. Having to swim through the flowing mucky water was about enough to drown Amber has fast as it was falling and as fast as it was moving. Shane got her out of there and moved her up to another part of the cemetery higher up on the hill. He laid down beside a tombstone with her in his humungous arms.

"Shane," she coughed, "what's going on?"

"It's just the weather," he insisted, "go to sleep…come morning, this will all be over."

Amber was too exhausted to fight with him. All the anger and bitterness and pain had eaten up her energy to stay awake by this time, let alone put up a fight. She leaned against Shane and slowly drifted into sleep, waiting either for the rain to stop, or for her to drown.

"Shane," she whispered, "let me know when it's over."

With that, she gave up and closed her eyes. Come morning, either they would've found a solution for Jeremy's case, or Richie was going to give them the fight of his life. Either way she was positive they'd be doing it without her. They hadn't come for her now, she was positive they never would.


	13. Chapter 13

Duncan remained seated in a chair he'd put right in the hallway near the door leading to the dining room. The front door was left open with the screen door still shut so Duncan could see out. He'd decided to wait up incase Amber came back during the night. It had been hours since he and Methos returned once again with no luck in finding her.

The clock struck the hour, 3 in the morning. Duncan took a pack of cigarettes off the table behind him and put one in his mouth and was about to light up when common sense took over. He ripped the cigarette out of his mouth and realized, "I don't smoke."

Not anymore, anyway, he thought.

"Eh," Duncan shrugged it off, "what the hell?"

Duncan put the cigarette back in his mouth and was about to light it when common sense kicked in again.

Smoking with a six-year-old in the house whose health has already been tampered with? he thought.

"Ha," Duncan scoffed, "listen to me…if I'm not the biggest hypocrite by now."

Duncan then thought of something. He put away the cigarette and looked at the pack. He didn't smoke, and neither did Methos or Richie or Amanda. Amber smoked, a lot. She could go through packs in a hurry.

"But not anymore," Duncan realized. When Jeremy first came home with Richie, Amber had given up smoking and drinking for reasons of hypocrisy, and of ruining Jeremy's health. That had been the only good thing that could come out of this for her, Duncan decided. Richie was another case, he'd tried to prove to Duncan before that he was capable of being a father to a kid, and he sure did, but not the way that Duncan would have wanted him to.

Ah hell with that, he thought, you wouldn't want him to be a father to anybody, would you? No, he answered himself…yes, but it could never be done. That's why he didn't want Richie to even think about it. It wasn't fair to Richie, but it was the Game. That's life, he said to himself, hell of a philosophy though.

He heard Methos coming down the stairs, Lord, would this night ever end?

Probably not, Duncan thought.

Methos stood a few stairs up from the floor and he leaned over the balcony, "Is she back yet?"

"No," Duncan answered, "you want to come down and join the watch?"

"I might as well, I have nothing better to do," Methos came down the stairs, pulled a chair in from the dining room and sat beside Duncan.

"You haven't been to bed, have you?" Duncan asked.

"No," Methos answered.

"You're really worried about her, aren't you?" Duncan asked.

"Of course I am, damn it," Methos replied, "she's been gone for over nine hours and we can't find her…Damn it, where is she?"

"Methos, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did, what is it?" Methos asked.

"I know that Amber's important to you…in fact she seems to be very important to you, but I can't figure out quite why…what makes her so special to you?" Duncan asked.

"Well," Methos hesitated, "I'm not sure you're going to like this."

"Oh God," Duncan moaned, "you two are sleeping together, aren't you?"

"Don't be dumb…the thing is she is important to me, because I've known her a lot longer than she thinks."

"What?" Duncan asked.

Methos hesitated for a minute and finally said, "I knew Amber's parents…before they had her…before they got married in fact…we were friends for years…oh we got along great, I was the best man at their wedding…I always enjoyed seeing them…we probably knew each other about oh…eight years when they told me Jennifer was pregnant. Of course Ryan was all wound up over it, he'd never been a father before…his father screwed him up here and there, he didn't want to do the same."

"And what happened?" Duncan asked.

Methos laughed, "at 5:15 on September 22nd, 1983, Jennifer was taken to the hospital because she'd gone into labor. The doctor was nowhere to be found and she was already starting to rip."

"What happened?"

"I helped her deliver Amber…it was the only thing that could be done otherwise something could've happened to both of them…I knew right then that something was going to come of her…I knew she was different."

"Did they see you after that?" Duncan asked.

"A couple of years…then I joined the Watchers and decided it was best not to get them involved in that if there were a chance of it happening."

"And during those first two years?" Duncan asked.

"I saw Amber grow…I knew she'd turn out to be something, you don't know it but she gets her thrill for danger from Jennifer."

"Really?"

"Yes…when we first met, Jennifer told me that she was very notorious for proving to be hazardous to some choice men's health…she did everything, drag racing, fighting, once when she was in college, she went over to the frat house, picked up this guy, threw him over her shoulder and swung him around by his ankles outside of the window. She was always doing something, and the amazing thing is the police never did anything with her."

"How come?"

"I think they were scared of her…anyways, when I first met her…she had uh…metaphorically speaking, more balls than anyone I knew…come to think of it, I can't think why Ryan married her. He liked a little action here and there, but nothing like what Jennifer did…I think…I think that's why I have a hard time getting angry with her, I know it's nothing new, because what she's doing, her mother did all the time. I was terrified of Jennifer, how can I get mad at Amber?"

"I guess I could understand that," Duncan said.

Methos laughed, "she was a beautiful baby…and as she grew, something happened. She was very eager to learn about things she couldn't even understand. She used to explore around the house and see what all was there…oh when she started walking…that was a nightmare of another sort, she started breaking about everything she could touch…they must have had the patience of a saint to put up with it…it was easy for me to, I didn't have to live with her…"

"And after the Watchers?"

"I dropped in once in a while, not often enough for Amber to have any recollection of me by the time she was 12…but already by that time she was doing things you wouldn't believe."

"Try me, she had no problem explaining it when we first met," Duncan replied, "but Methos…doesn't it bother you that the way she risks her life is so much like her mother did and her mother has been dead for five years?"

"No," Methos responded, "Jennifer didn't die because she was crazy or because she was wild or because she liked playing with her life…it was because Mario wanted Amber to suffer before he did her in, and he knew killing her parents would do that. Jennifer didn't know Mario well enough for any other motive, in fact she hardly knew him at all."

Duncan remained silent for a minute, then he decided to change the subject, "A few months ago when Cassandra came looking for you, Amber said that she was living with you when she wasn't with us, is this true?"

Methos seemed a bit hesitant for a minute, finally, "Yes."

Duncan repositioned himself in his chair, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Methos said nothing and looked the other way.

"What? Did you think I'd take your head for it?"

"Maybe."

"Well…how long was she staying with you?" Duncan asked.

"Well, I met her about 3 months after meeting you, so basically the only times we weren't together was either when I was in touch with you, and…"

"Alexa?"

"…Yes, aside from those times and a few others I'd rather not go into, she was staying with me…"

"So I'm guessing everything she told us about was when she wasn't with you," Duncan said.

"Like what?"

"Like the first six months after her parent's death, she said she spent that time in bed."

"Yes, and the first couple of months to that was when she was with me."

"And all the times that she went out and…"

"And what? Tried to kill herself? Tried to see how far she could push herself? Tried to see just what she could do and how much until it ultimately killed her? You think I was with you when that happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"As many stunts as she pulled, do you really think she wouldn't have become Immortal during that if she were on her own?"

Duncan said nothing for a while, finally he asked, "Does Amber know?"

"Know what? That I knew her parents? That I helped bring her into this world while keeping her mother in it as well?" Methos asked, "No."

"Why not?"

"She's very emotional when it comes to her family. I'm not sure what she'd say if I told her…I'm a bit worried how she'd take it. She might do this again."

"What? Run off without saying a word?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any intention of telling her?" Duncan asked.

"Not particularly."

"Maybe you should, Methos."

"Why?"

"Why? Maybe it'd help her, maybe she'd feel like she was with family again, maybe she'd stick around and tell you what's wrong with her, but I don't think she would run away like this again if you did."

"Maybe you're right."

"…I'm sorry."

"For what?" Methos asked.

"Well I guess I didn't give you enough credit for taking care of her when you were living together…I guess I can see why you care about her as much as you do."

"And I'm worried sick tonight, this isn't as bad as some of the stuff she's done, but before I was able to find her and pull her ass out of the fire…we can't find her and we covered three towns tonight."

"We'll look again in the morning if she doesn't come home before then," Duncan said.

"I hope she's allright," Methos said, more to himself than Duncan.

"I'm sure she is. Why don't you go to bed? You're looking exhausted."

Methos nodded as he stood up, "Goodnight, MacLeod."

"Goodnight Methos."

The sun was starting to come up and Amber still hadn't come home. Duncan had sat in the hall watching the front door all night, he was slowly nodding off when the phone rang. He got up, went into the dining room and answered it.

"Hello?" he groggily said, "Yes…yes…yeah…yeah…yeah…I see…okay, goodbye."

Methos came down and into the dining room right behind Duncan as he hung up, "Who was that?"

"Get your coat, we're going," Duncan said.

"What? Going where?" Methos asked.

"To find Amber, I know where she is," Duncan replied.

"Where?"

Amber opened her eyes as she heard a car door close. The cemetery was light, the sunlight was just over the trees on the east side. The ground was dry and hard again, and she was in the exact same place she had been when she fell asleep. She propped herself up on her elbows and saw Duncan and Methos coming through the front gate to the cemetery. It was then that Amber realized if they found Shane, they'd…then the realization hit her that she had woken up alone. She looked down where Rachel's grave was, Shane wasn't there…the sun was coming up so Shane had to be getting to sleep himself, and he always slept under the tree by Rachel's grave.

Oh no, she thought, Connor must've found out where she was, come down and killed Shane…then informed Duncan where she was. It was the only thing that made sense, Connor certainly didn't like Shane considering they'd never met, and he despised the fact that Amber was friends with him. He'd left her walking on eggshells since he threatened to soon divulge her secret to Duncan. As that thought sunk in, she felt like she'd been slammed into a brick wall. She felt like crying, screaming and killing Connor.

As she slowly stood up, she saw Methos running up to her, he stopped a foot away from her. He looked at her for a minute, then he threw his arms around her and held her tightly.

"Are you allright?" he asked.

Amber wasn't sure what he'd meant by that. She saw Duncan coming up right behind him. This was news to her because they hadn't bothered finding her last night, and they couldn't have looked too far if they didn't check the cemetery.

"Amber, have you been here all night?" Duncan asked.

"What do you care?" Amber asked, "you didn't come looking for me last night."

"Yes we did, we looked everywhere we could think of, bars, theaters, motels, churches…and you've been here all night?" Duncan asked.

"Yes."

Amber thought she was going to burst when Methos held her tighter, he said, "Thank God you're allright."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Amber asked.

"Well you left the house without your sword, we were worried you might have run into that other Immortal," Duncan said.

"Yeah, about him…" Amber said quietly.

"Amber…don't you ever do that again," Methos said, "you had me worried sick."

"I promise nothing," Amber replied bitterly, eyeing Duncan.

"Come on, Amber, let's get you home," Duncan said.

"I'm not going home," Amber protested.

"Yes you are, Jeremy needs you there, and so does Richie and so does this bundle of nerves here," Duncan pointed at Methos.

"I can't go back, not with _him_ there," Amber said.

"Amber, Connor has already put it past him what happened, we've been worried about you all night, now come on, let's go home," Duncan said.

"Go on ahead…I'll be right with you."

Duncan turned around and started down the cemetery. Amber looked behind her and looked around and realized that Shane wasn't anywhere to be found. Connor must've killed him, there could be no other explanation.

"Amber, are you allright?" Methos asked.

Amber turned back around and gripped Methos by his shoulders, "Methos, I can't go back there, he hates me," Amber said.

"Who?"

"Connor."

"Amber, Connor doesn't hate you," Methos argued.

"Yes he does, he's trying to get me in trouble," Amber said.

"What do you mean?" Methos asked, "you mean with Jeremy?"

"That's only part of it, if he tells Duncan what he knows, I'm in boiling oil," Amber said.

"Amber, it can't be that bad."

"You're right, it's not, but he thinks it is, and he'll make it out to be that bad if he tells Duncan, and you know Duncan will comprehend it as being even worse than Connor could explain it, that's why I can't go back, he sees I'm back he's going to tell Duncan."

"What's wrong?"

"I can't say Methos, please, you've just got to believe me on this," Amber said.

"Maybe after some 5,000 years I'm going crazy but…I believe you," Methos replied, "let's go."

"Methos."

"Connor's not going to get you into trouble with Duncan, I'll see to that myself if I have to," Methos assured her.

"No," Amber protested, "I can't…I had a friend here with me last night, he may be dead now because of Connor."

"What?"

"I was here with a friend, and Connor might've killed him by now because he's not here," Amber said.

"Who was he?" Methos asked, "Oh…he's the secret, is that it?"

Amber looked at him a bit ashamed, "Yes."

"Oh no," Methos said to himself, "you didn't sleep with him, did you?"

"No!" Amber replied.

"You're going to sleep with him?" Methos tried again.

"No I'm not going to sleep with him, I'm not getting drugs from him, I'm not committing armed robbery or grand larceny with him and I'm not copulating with him!" Amber exclaimed.

"Then what's wrong with him?" Methos asked.

"Nothing is wrong with him, he is someone who Connor doesn't know at all, and he hates," Amber explained.

"How can he hate this guy if he never met him?" Methos asked.

"I don't know, but he does."

"Allright look, if you don't think you can tell me what's going on then I'm going to take your word for it. I don't know what Connor's problem is but I'm going to make sure that whatever's going on, he doesn't let Duncan know, allright?"

Amber slowly nodded, "Let's go."

"So Amber," Duncan said on the drive back, "something I don't get, out of all the places you could've gone last night, why _that_ cemetery?"

Amber didn't know what to say. She wanted to tell him she ran until she was too exhausted to go any further and she ended up there, but she decided against it.

"I know why," Methos spoke up, "It's right by the church she attends…it's territory she trusts, besides, if she'd gone to the church, if someone were looking for her, they could've burnt the place to the grounds, she'd be an easy target. At least in the cemetery she had a chance of escaping if she had to. Isn't that right, Amber?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"Well Amber, you had us all worried to death…Richie was about to lose his mind, Jeremy kept asking when you were coming home."

"And you?" Amber asked.

"I sat awake in the hall watching the front door all night incase you came back…"

"Oh…what about you Methos? Are you mad at me too?" Amber asked.

"I'm not mad at you, Amber, not mad at all."

"Sure you are, you must be."

"No, I'm not angry with you in the least, I'm just relieved to know you're allright."

"You have to understand, Amber," Duncan said, "it's very difficult for Methos to get mad at you, let alone stay mad at you. You mean something to him you'll never understand."

"So where's Jeremy?" Amber asked.

"Probably still in bed with Richie," Methos said as they entered through the front door, "It's still pretty early."

"Good, I wanna go see them," Amber ran up the stairs yelling, "Hey Richie! Jeremy! Anybody up yet?"

Duncan and Methos entered the kitchen where Amanda was, "Is she allright?" Amanda asked.

"Never better from the looks of it," Duncan said.

"Where was she?"

"The Eternal Serenity Cemetery," Methos answered.

They heard someone stomping around on the floor above and shortly afterwards, Connor came down the back stairs. "She's back?"

"Yes she's back," Methos replied, "do you have a problem with it?"

"No."

"Could've fooled me," Methos said.

"So what now?" Amanda asked.

"I gave Jeanessa Wilcox a call and asked her to come over…I thought maybe that way she could explain her reasoning to Richie and Amber."

"Ooh," Methos said, "then we have front row seats."

"Stop it," Amanda said.

"I'm serious, you don't really expect this woman to show up without the kids trying to kill her do you?" Methos asked.

"Methos, she's a professional, she'll be able to explain it to them better than we can," Connor said.

"Bull-shit."

"Methos!"

"I mean it, Duncan…if you think they're just going to let this woman come in here and take Jeremy away, you have another thing coming to you."

"Methos," Amanda said, "I know how they feel, I love Jeremy too, but let's be practical about this."

"Practicality went out the window when Richie brought Jeremy home in the first place. Let's try another option," Methos said.

"Mommy, where were you?" Jeremy asked.

"Oh well I went out for a very long walk last night…then I went for a run, then I went for a swim, that one wasn't by choice but what the hell, it was exercise," Amber said.

"And how are you this morning?" Richie asked.

"Sore as hell and scared to death, but that's another story," she replied, "how was your night?"

"Oh words can't begin to describe that," Richie responded in a bitter tone, "so where were you, really?"

"The cemetery."

"The cemetery? Why would you…never mind, that's smart thinking," Richie said.

"Maybe," Amber said.

"So…how are you, really?" Richie asked.

"Scared as hell."

"About Jeremy?"

"Yeah…"

"You know, Connor called that social lady and she's going to come over later, and try to convince us to let Jeremy live with her," Richie said.

"Bull-shit," Amber replied, "unless she's got someone with her and they're an exact replica of us, there's no chance of that happening."

"I know."

"Mommy," Jeremy said.

"Yes?"

"Am I going to be staying with you?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah," Amber replied, "You are."

"Amber, how can you tell him that?" Richie muttered in her ear.

"Easy, one way or the other we're going to keep him…if we have to skip the country we will."

"Are you crazy? After what happened last time?" Richie asked.

"Last time we were too sloppy on our work, we rushed it too quickly, this time we'll be more prepared," Amber said.

"If we have to," Richie said.

"If we have to," Amber agreed, "when's this broad supposed to be coming over?"

"Connor didn't say," Richie said, "what do we do when she comes?"

Amber laughed, "This lady's probably going to think Jeremy needs to stay with a family like…the Cleaver family, or I don't know…maybe the Bradys, but we ain't gonna be doing that show for her. Oh no, we're not going to roll over for her. We're going to meet her and give her a chance to explain her say in this and then we're going to show her the pure-bred, poor white trash, dysfunctional, psychotic family that we truly are."

"And you think after we do that she'll be willing to let us keep Jeremy?" Richie laughed.

"No, she's going to let us keep Jeremy because she'll know that if she does this we are going to bash her brains out against the wall and hang her out to dry," Amber replied.

Richie laughed, "Amber, you're insane and I love you, I love you," Richie kissed her, "and I'm glad to know you."

"I'm glad to know me too, otherwise I think I'd be very depressed."

"Mommy," Jeremy said.

"Yes?"

"Are you going to leave again?" Jeremy asked.

Amber looked at Richie for a minute, then back at Jeremy, "Of course not Jeremy, last night I just needed to step out for a while and do some thinking."

"But sometimes moms leave."

"Well that's true but I'm not going anywhere and neither are you," Amber assured him.

"Good."

Jeremy swung his arms around Amber's knees and gripped tightly.

"Apparently muscle runs in the family," Amber said, "Jeremy, that's a bit too tight. I don't want to fall over on you."

"Sorry."

"What time is this lady coming?" Duncan asked.

"Around eleven, is there a problem with that?" Connor asked.

"No, no problem," Duncan said, "just let me know ahead of time the next time you decide to throw us into the next World War."

"Duncan, what's the worst these kids can do?" Connor asked.

"If you don't know, I can't explain it," Duncan said.

"That doesn't tell me anything."

"Exactly."

"Duncan," Amanda said.

"What?"

"The Dean's on the line, he wants to know why you and Adam haven't been in the last few days…also he wants to know why Richie and Amber haven't been in for over a week."

Duncan sighed, "Give me the phone."

"It's in the kitchen."

Duncan headed into the kitchen and picked up the phone, "Yes? Hello Dean Warwick, how may I help you?"

"MacLeod, why the hell haven't you or Pierson been in here?" he asked.

"Oh, personal reasons, I really don't think you want to know," Duncan said.

"How about those two nightmares?"

"Richie and Amber?"

"Yes."

"They've been sick lately…something really horrible."

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure but I think it's spreading…Pierson seems to be getting it himself, so does my wife."

"Well what're the symptoms?"

"Well you see first you get real pale for a few days and you go into cold sweats a lot. Then you start coming down with this terrible cough, and you get this stabbing pain in your neck that goes from one side to the next. And after that, well after the pain in your neck, it starts to swell until it looks like a nice pale pumpkin. Then after that, you start coughing up blood. Of course we've had a doctor come and look at them, two in fact, and they think it's a new illness, they're going to run some tests to see if they test positive, and if they do…well they have a very uncomfortable way of treating it. First they take these fishhooks and they put them in your nose, then they pull your upper jaw so far back that it exposes the Adam's apple, then they take these leeches and…you don't want to know what they do with the leeches."

"No I suppose I do not…well if they live long enough to come back here, you let them know that I'm going to have my eye on them."

"Why? What'd they do?"

"I've noticed that they've been absent a few times before this…I wouldn't want them to get the idea that they can just walk out of here like they own the place, especially when we have our reputation to maintain."

"You tell that bastard he doesn't have a reputation," Connor said.

Duncan waved him off, "Oh yes, of course I will…we wouldn't want that to happen, now would we? Okay, goodbye."

Duncan slammed the phone down.

"What was that about?" Connor asked.

"Never mind I can explain it at another time," Duncan said, "Richie, come down here!"

"What're you going to do?" Connor asked.

Richie came down the stairs seeming a bit reluctant, "Yeah Mac?"

"The dean just called, he says that you and Amber have missed school several times before this past week, would you care to explain that?" Duncan asked.

"Well," Richie started, "you see Mac…"

"I'm listening."

"The reason we haven't been there as often as we should've been is because…"

"Because we were busy welcoming new Immortals to the curse you call 'forever'," Amber explained as she came down the stairs.

"What?" Duncan asked.

"Mac, at the university of Tampa we're taking head counts, there are seven Immortals, you know how many people there are who will become Immortal? Thirty-three, and out of the seven already there and the thirty-three who someday will be, twenty percent of them work in the college, and the rest are students. Some of them have had their 'initiation' into this damn eternal life, and somebody had to be there to explain it to them," she explained, "it might as well have been someone who knew what they were talking about," Richie said.

"Your friends?"

"A couple…Yvonne was a couple of months ago…we hoped she would've been able to live a few more years before it but…maybe she'll get lucky and she'll actually live longer than some young ones have," Richie said.

"Lucky for her she has a good teacher," Amber said, "some of the others I'm not so worried about because let's face it, we want people we hate to drop dead too…so does that answer your question?"

"Yes."

"Allright," Amber said, "come on Richie, we better get ready for this woman to show."

"I think I can honestly say this will be a meeting no one will forget," Richie said.


	14. Chapter 14

"Amber, are you sure you're okay with this?" Richie asked.

"Richie, these days I'm not sure I'm okay with anything that happens," Amber replied, "I just go with it."

Richie was in the bathroom shaving and Amber was in the bedroom tearing her jeans with a knife. Methos was in his bathroom giving Jeremy a bath so he'd be presentable when the social worker arrived. The phone rang in Richie and Amber's bedroom so she answered.

"Hello." 

"Are you allright?" It was Shane.

Amber felt her body tense up, but she exhaled in relief, he was still alive, "What happened?" she whispered so Richie wouldn't hear her.

"The caretaker at the cemetery saw us and called the police. I don't know how, but instead of them coming to the cemetery, someone sent an anonymous tip to your family."

"But where were you?" Amber raised her still quiet voice, "I thought Connor had killed you."

"The Tampa police and I aren't on friendly terms exactly, especially not with that Sergeant Powell around…I knew they wouldn't arrest you if they found you by yourself, especially considering they'd figure you stayed there to get away from the storm. So I just got out of there before somebody came and they arrested both of us."

"So you're allright?"

"Yes, and you?"

"I've been better," Amber said, "that woman is coming today to see Jeremy."

"What're you going to do?"

"I don't know, but I know what I'm not going to do, I'm not going to let her take Jeremy and just stand by. The son of a bitch has just begun to fight."

"When's she coming?"

"Noon." 

"Well, she should be there in a couple of hours then."

"I know, I've got to go…I'll let you know later how it went." 

There was a click on the other end and Amber hung up as well. Shane wasn't much for goodbyes, and Amber didn't see any point in continuing their conversation just for one. Instead she went back to cutting up her jeans. Richie came out of the bathroom with shaving cream smeared on one cheek and a razor in hand.

"Who was that?"

"Wrong number."

"Amber…what happens if this Wilcox lady takes Jeremy away here and now?"

"She won't," Amber replied.

"How can you be so sure?" Richie asked.

"Because it's our house, she wears out her welcome here we'll have her arrested for trespassing," Amber said, "get a restraining order against her."

"Please, we can't do that, not since Powell joined the Tampa Police Department," Richie said.

"I think I could call in a few favors and get him dismissed," Amber replied, "Richie…"

"Yeah?" 

"I'm really worried about this," Amber said.

"I know, I'm worried too," Richie said.

There was a knock at the front door.

"She's early."

"Oh God," Amber said.

"Well, I guess we don't have any choice now," Richie said, "we just have to bite the bullet and hope for the best."

"Methos!" Amber called.

"What?" 

"She's here."

"Okay, okay, I'm coming, I'm coming."

Methos came out of his room carrying Jeremy, his hair was combed down, his face was clean and his clothes weren't torn.

"Ain't that great, Richie?" Amber asked, "Methos made Jeremy disappear and replaced him with little Timmy."

"Very funny," Methos said, "now Jeremy, this lady's coming to see you because she doesn't like you living with your mummy and daddy, are you going to be nice to her?"

"No," Jeremy replied.

"Good, give her hell!" Methos kissed Jeremy on the cheek as he handed him over to Amber. "Are you two ready?"

"No," Richie said, "but let's get it over with anyway." 

"What seems to be the problem with these two delinquents?" Jeanessa asked.

"They're not delinquents, Miss Wilcox," Duncan said as he poured drinks for everyone, "they're just younger and…a bit inexperienced as far as parenthood goes."

"Have they been arrested before?" she asked.

"I really don't see what that has to do with anything," Duncan said. 

"In other words, yes."

"They're not convicted killers," Amanda said, "they've gotten into a little trouble here and there, although I really don't see how that's any of your business."

"Mrs. MacLeod, if parents, and that includes foster parents, have a demeaning past, it is bound to repeat within the next generation," Jeanessa said as she adjusted her glasses.

"It's not demeaning," Amanda said, "allright I'll admit their lives aren't all that glamorous, but whose is?"

"It's one thing not to live glamorously, but it's another to be a miscreant and a menace to society."

"Now wait one damn minute," Amanda said.

There was a silence as Amber, Richie, Methos and Jeremy entered the room. 

"Duncan, who's this?" Methos asked.

"Uh…well Adam, this Jeanessa Wilcox…Jeanessa, this is Adam Pierson, Richie Ryan, Amber Jenzon, and this is Jeremy."

Richie and Amber saw the lady and didn't like what they saw. She seemed to be the typical social worker, tight business suit/dress, horn rimmed glasses, long brown hair rolled in a bun, tight, pinching high heels, and she seemed to have a perfect body, perfect build, perfect skin, perfect face, even her eyes looked perfect.

Richie and Amber also noticed the two bulges in the front of her jacket. 

"I bet they're fake," Amber murmured to Richie.

"What was that?" Duncan asked.

"I said I thought she'd be late," Amber said, "we weren't expecting her to be here for another two hours."

"Well I try my best to always be early," Jeanessa said, "I really surprise some of my clients that way."

"Your clients?" Amber repeated, "you a lawyer?"

"I work for the social services, in these parts of town we're a very prestigious and increasing corporation."

Richie guffawed, Amber jabbed him in the ribs but rolled her eyes.

"Miss Jenzon," Jeanessa said.

"What?" she asked rudely.

"Have you had much experience with children?" she asked in a snooty tone. 

"Uh…okay," Amber said.

Jeanessa looked down past Amber's muscle shirt and down at her jeans, twelve rips in each leg.

"Would you say you're a…competent mother figure to little Jeremy?" she asked.

"I don't know what being impotent has to do with this," Amber said, "but I'd say I'm a damn good parent to him if that's what you're insinuating."

"I see, do you always swear in his presence?" Jeanessa asked.

"No, I just use the cleaner language around him, I save what I'm really thinking for when he's not within hearing range," Amber said. 

Jeanessa looked down at Jeremy and got a good look at him. "Jeremy is so adorable, how old is he? Three?"

"Six." 

"Six?" Jeanessa had a huge phony surprised look on her face, "Oh I never would've imagined, he's so small. Is he eating properly?" 

"What would you define proper?" Amber asked.

"Well proper meaning he gets enough calcium and of B vitamins and vitamins A, C and D, no saturated fat, fatty acids, unhealthy amounts of cholesterol, a healthy amount of protein and carbohydrates, no excess sodium, nothing more than 1,000 calories per day, plenty of water, lots of leafy vegetables, no red meat and no cane sugar." 

"Outside of vegetables, what's left?" Methos asked.

"If you call that proper and if that's the diet you live on, I could see why you look like you're gonna burst," Richie said, "nothing real in you."

"Well then what do you feed him?" Jeanessa asked.

"Usually anything we eat, ain't that right, Richie?" Amber asked. 

"Pretty much," Richie said."

"Well what do you usually eat?" Jeanessa asked.

"Oh I don't know…hot dogs, burgers, spaghetti and meatballs, peanut butter and pickles, fried chicken, grilled swordfish, pizza, cheese balls, shrimp, popcorn, turkey, potato chips, corndogs, nachos, mashed potatoes, T-bone steak, pepperoni, salami, tuna, corn on the cob…macaroons, watermelon, apple pie, donut holes…"

"Is all he eats junk food?" Jeanessa asked.

"No, no, he gets that rubbish too, celery dipped in peanut butter, bananas split down the middle with ice cream inside, apples dipped in cinnamon sugar, strawberries covered in whipped cream and cane sugar, Tania roots dipped in cane sugar and molasses, peas dipped in honey." 

"Oh my Lord," Jeanessa groaned.

"Kidding, I'm kidding," Amber said, "he takes that rubbish plain." 

"Well, does he get any exercise?"

"Of course he does, he's always running, he plays baseball, and he's learning how to wrestle," Richie said.

"Wrestle? Such a fragile boy?"

"He ain't gonna be fragile by the time I get through with him," Amber replied, "we're going to raise him up to be a fighter." 

Jeanessa laughed, "Surely you can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious," Amber said, "and don't call me Shirley." 

"Well…does he go to school?" Jeanessa asked.

"Of course not, I'm not going to send him off to any public school for them to get their hands on a helpless little boy…you look at him, he's just a little boy, he couldn't even fight his way out of a paper bag at the present time," Richie said.

"He doesn't go to school?" Jeanessa asked, "how's he going to learn?"

"Hey, he may not be making the government any money but he's learning," Amber said, "less than a week ago, he started talking, now we're teaching him how to read," Amber gave Jeremy a little shove, "Jeremy, show the lady what you've been doing."

Jeremy walked over to the coffee table where there were several cards each with a letter written on them. Jeremy picked up one card at a time and put them down in a row on the table, finally he had spelt out: Is I Safe?

Jeanessa laughed once, "You call that making progress?"

Amber rolled her eyes, "So we have a few grammar corrections to teach him, he'll catch on, considering last week he couldn't read at all, I think he's doing just fine."

"Maybe he is, compared to someone of your intelligence," Jeanessa said as she stood up, face to face with Amber.

"Now listen here you bitch!"

"Bitch? I could have you put in jail again, this time it could be for abuse." 

"I haven't even laid a hand on you yet," Amber said.

"I'm talking about the child, that's verbal abuse to say that in front of him," Jeanessa replied.

"Excuse me, but that child has a name, it's Jeremy."

"Well when I get through here, his last name will be Wilcox," Jeanessa smirked.

"The hell you will…"

"Yes I will, I'm going to take him with me or my name's mud," Jeanessa said.

"Mud fits you perfectly," Amber said, "among other things."

"Now you see here," Jeanessa said.

"Amber what the hell do you think you're doing?" Connor asked.

"I'm doing what needs to be done around here," Amber said, "that's all."

"Amber!" 

"Well someone has to put this fancy-butt high-heeled snob in her place," Amber said.

"Hey!" Amanda cut in, "allright, you want to settle this? You can, but not here…Amber, Richie, you," she said to Jeanessa, "all of you, into the pantry."

"The pantry, how amusing," Jeanessa said.

"Could've done worse," Richie said, "nobody would think to look for your body in the basement." 

"You can't be serious about keeping Jeremy here with you, you have absolutely no way of providing for him," Jeanessa said.

"I've been looking for work at night-jobs, I've got a few notices, I'm expecting a few calls, and I can do that while I go to school in the daytime," Amber said.

"And does the same go for Conan the barbarian here?" Jeanessa asked. 

"Richie's not looking for work for the time being, he's going to school and he'd be taking care of Jeremy a lot while I'm at work," Amber said.

"So he'd mainly be with him?" Jeanessa asked.

"No, I'd find work at a place that's humane for anyone to come to, so he can bring Jeremy to see me while I'm working too…we'd both work next year in the upcoming summer and still have Jeremy with us." 

"What about school? He has to go to school."

"We'd have Adam teach him, Adam's been a teacher before, he's already a teacher at our college," Amber said.

"Do you really think he'd want to have the responsibility of looking after a six-year-old?" Jeanessa asked.

"Yes he would," Richie replied, "Adam's not like most men these days, he'd be happy to have Jeremy around."

"Don't make me laugh," Jeanessa said, "I'm going to draw up a court order to take that boy with me by the end of the month and don't even think about seeking any legal help either. My husband is one of the top notch attorneys in this pathetic town, he's a name so big that nothing you could say in court would mean jack."

"So you're married," Amber said, "did he have a vasectomy?"

"No and that's none of your business," Jeanessa said.

"Then why don't you have a kid with him?" Amber asked.

"We've been trying, but it hasn't been successful, in the time it might take for us to actually have a baby, I'd like to have a child in the meantime."

"So what? You're a social worker, why don't you take one of the kids who's getting slapped around, and have them live with you?" Richie asked.

"My clients aren't in that desperate a situation, nobody is," Jeanessa said.

"Oh yeah? Well where the hell were people like you when Richie's foster parents were beating him into a bloody pulp in the carpet?" Amber asked.

"What?" 

"Richie used to be in foster care until he was seventeen, eight years ago," Amber said, "where were people like you then? Because his social workers just moved him from one crappy home to the next. It wasn't until he was a thief and he got caught by the owner that he had a decent place to stay. You call that a healthy environment for a kid?" 

"I'm sorry to hear about your friend."

"Oh yeah? Well then think for a minute, the only reason Richie did what he did was because he didn't want Jeremy to go through what he did."

"I can understand that."

"Then why can't you understand how much it means to us to keep him?" Amber asked, "you people get off lucky, you can have kids but it's just taking time, Richie can't have kids, and neither can I…not that it'd do us any good because we're not married. This may be the only chance we'll ever have to be parents to a kid and help him grow up to be a decent human being. You have all the opportunities in the world."

"You could adopt," Jeanessa said.

"You think those people would give the time of day to single would-be parents? You have to be married before they stop stringing you along in their plans. Besides, it's not that easy, it's not like we can just replace Jeremy…we love him, we've gotten to know a lot about him and we're attached to him, you've never met him, you don't even like him, why would you want him?"

"I don't like the way he's been raised."

"Neither do we, which is why we've been doing the best we could to give him a good life…it's not eating from a silver spoon, but it's the best we can do, and I think we're doing good not to have Damien Thorn on our hands," Amber said.

"I can understand that," Jeanessa said, "but it's not good enough…he needs special care, excessive care, and you can't give him that."

"And you can?" Richie asked.

"Yes, at least when he's with me he wouldn't have to worry about someone arresting him and taking him away…"

"You work all day and so does your husband, who'd look after him?" Amber asked.

"The nannies and the housekeeper."

"And what about school? You know what goes on in a public school these days?"

"He'd have a private tutor."

"Private tutor?" Amber repeated, "Are you kidding me? They're some of the biggest perverts, they're right up there with priests, music teachers and police officers."

"Look, whether you like it or not, that boy is not going to be staying with you, in two weeks I'm going to come back here, with the police and see to it that I'm the one leaving with him," Jeanessa told them. 

"Over my dead body," Richie said.

"Make that two dead bodies," Amber added.

"If you resist, then I'm going to have both of you arrested for kidnapping, emotional neglect, child abuse and endangerment and domestic violence."

"The only domestic violence you have to worry about is going to be on your body," Amber said.

"I can have your sentencing extended for threats, would you like to try again?" Jeanessa asked. 

"I don't believe you," Duncan said.

"Duncan, that woman comes in here acting like she's better than all of us, she treats the kids like crap and says we're taking horrible care of Jeremy, Richie and Amber are the only ones apparently smart enough and with the gall to put her in her place where she belongs," Amanda said.

The pantry door opened and closed again, Jeanessa walked right past them and out the front door, Richie and Amber returned to the living room. 

"What happened?" Amanda asked.

"She's going to get a court order, and in two weeks she's coming to get Jeremy," Amber said.

"And she added that if we try anything funny when she does come back, she's going to have us arrested for kidnapping and assault and child abuse," Richie said.

"What?" Amanda asked.

"Can she do that?" Duncan asked.

"If her husband's as notorious as she says he is, he can do a hell of a lot more than that," Amber said.

"Who's her husband?" Methos asked.

"Ernie Wilcox," Amber said.

"Oh boy," Methos said.

"What?" Amanda asked.

"A man like that, he's going to be hard to fight," Methos said, "especially in court."

"So what're you saying? We have no way to get out of this?" Richie asked, "there's nothing we can do? There's no way we can win this?"

"Yep, welcome to America, that's what it's all about," Amber said, "and I'm all for leaving this poor excuse of a country." 

"Amber." 

"I swear, if the first few presidents were alive today, they'd throw up, then drop dead," Amber said, "they wouldn't stand for the way this country's turned out…they'd be disgusted, sickened, they'd probably go crazy from all the insanity. It's better if we leave."

"And go where?" Duncan asked.

"Belize, they can't come after us there, they can't find us," Amber said, "we could stay there for as long as we liked, maybe even stay down there permanently."

"I don't know what difference it would make," Richie said, "we wouldn't be able to come back here."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Amanda asked, "Risk being banned from the country for the rest of your lives?"

"Hey, if we can't even fight and win this case with Jeremy, I say let them ban us, who'd want to return to this place anyway?" Amber asked, "If people were smart, they wouldn't have illegal aliens coming into this country, they'd have pure-bred Americans sneaking out of it."

"Where's Jeremy?" Richie asked.

"He's upstairs, I just put him down for a nap," Amanda said.

"We have two weeks to figure out what we're going to do," Richie said, "but I don't want Jeremy to know anything's going to happen."

"What? What're you saying?" Duncan asked.

"I'm saying that these next two weeks, he's not going to know anything's wrong…it'll be the best time of his life, because it'll probably be the last time he's here."

"That's right," Amber said, "and the last time he'll probably see all of you, we couldn't ask you to give up everything just to come to Belize with us."

"Who said we'd be giving up anything?" Amanda asked, "we could come with you."

"No you couldn't," Amber said, "You have too much going on here." 

"Oh please, what am I waiting around for?" Amanda asked, "To see if Roseanne Barr will make it as a rock star? Besides, we wouldn't exactly have to move down there with you, we could come and visit, it'd just be for long periods of time each go around."

"Really? You'd be willing to do that for Jeremy?" Amber asked.

"For all of you," Amanda said, "if you think this is what you need to do."

"Think?" Richie asked, "no no no, this is what we have to do for Jeremy's sake."

"Then we support you on your decision," Amanda said.

"You do?" Richie asked.

"We do?" Duncan asked.

"Look, whatever it takes so Jeremy won't have to live with this lady, or go into foster care…I'm going to do it," Richie said, "and look, I'll understand if you don't want to help because it's not your problem."

"It is our problem, Richie," Duncan replied, "and he is in our family."

"And family looks out for family," Amber said, "family's the people you do anything for, I bend over backwards for my family, even break the bones in order to do it. I just wish we had more time. We have to come up with a way to explain this to all our friends before a final farewell, let's face it, they can't all come with us."

"No, but you could still keep in touch with one another," Methos said, "besides, the important thing right now is that if you're willing to go through with this, you know what your options are and decide what's the best way out of the country."

"I just don't know why it's going to take that lady two weeks to get a court order, her husband works in court all the time, I'm sure he can just conjure one up if she puts her hand in the right place," Amber said.

"Even with the best attorneys in the loop, it can take a while," Methos said, "besides, I read that she's recently on rough terms with the judges who work at the local courthouses, so it might be longer than she figures."

Richie looked at Amber, she seemed to be lost in thought.

"Amber, are you allright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine…Richie, can you watch Jeremy for a while? I have to take care of some business with some friends, get everything straightened out about this."

"Sure Amber, sure."

Amber turned and dashed out the door, she got on her motorcycle, started it up and headed out to the Eternal Serenity Cemetery, since Shane was alive and well, she had to explain this whole mess to him before she did anyone else. They had two weeks to figure a way out of the country, they were going to find it and go for it.


	15. Chapter 15

Amber found Shane at the cemetery just as she figured, right under the tree by Rachel's grave. She got him up and started telling him how everything went with the social worker. As she did, Shane leaned against the trunk of the tree and took out a knife, he stabbed the blade against the tombstone in front of him. It was more like a plaque, so with each thrust, a mark was left in it. It seemed more of just something to do while he listened to her.

"And that's the whole story," Amber explained to Shane, "Richie and I got two weeks to figure a way out of this God-for-saken country before they come for Jeremy."

"Where're you gonna go?" Shane asked.

"Belize, they can't catch us there, but…in doing so with the cops after us, we can never come back to the states. Not that it'd be that much of a loss, what are we gonna miss? The next World War? A new name for the French fry? America and all its glory and freedom is highly overrated, take a good look around and you'd probably find more freedom in the state pen."

"But what if…"

"What?" Amber asked.

"Never mind."

"Come on, I'll be gone in two weeks, you got something to tell me, tell me now," Amber said.

"What if these people, send out warnings."

"To who?"

"The FBI, the second FBI…"

"Huh?"

"Florida Bureau Investigation, they could inform them to be on the lookout for two young people, and a child, heading out of the state. They could be waiting for you when you leave, you'd be arrested on arrival."

"Hmmmmmm, you have an interesting point," Amber realized, "I'll have to consider…wait a minute, I've got it."

"What?"

"My car was totaled when we crashed a few days ago…Richie's is still in one piece, and, so is his motorcycle for that matter."

"I don't get it."

"Richie will take his motorcycle and pass on through state lines first, then I'll be behind him a few miles in his car with Jeremy…they're on the lookout for two young people in one car with a kid, I don't think they'd be smart enough to piece us together."

"Still, there's a risk…"

"I know…Shane…"

"Yes?"

"I'd be asking a lot here, I know I couldn't ask you to leave Rachel, but…if we have to, could you take Jeremy out of here?"

"What?"

"Well, the night we run away, Richie will go ahead of me, I'll be behind him with our bags packed, and you'll be in your car behind me, and Jeremy would be with you."

Shane considered it for a minute, "Yeah, I could do that."

"Thanks, Shane…you'd really be helping us."

"I know…I know…I…I like what you're doing with the kid…I like that someone's left around here who actually gives a shit about someone else enough to do something about it. Besides, I like the fact that Richie's as involved in this as he is."

"How can you be? You never met Richie."

"No but you've told me a lot about him…and I'm glad that he's sticking around to help Jeremy…like a father…I like to see that…"

"How come?" Amber asked, "Did your dad screw with you when you were younger or something?"

"No no," Shane shook his head, "nothing like that…you see I never met my father…my mother told me very little about him…seemed he just drifted through town at the right time to meet her, and then he disappeared before she even found out she was pregnant…"

"Oh yeah, I forgot…man, I'm really slipping," Amber said, "sorry."

"Anyway, nobody I've spoken with knows who he is or what he did…I just, always wondered what it'd be like having a father, I wondered what he was like, what he did…what he would've done if he'd stuck around…"

"Well I'm probably sticking my foot in my mouth but…maybe it's better that you don't know," Amber said, "who knows? Maybe the guy turned out to be a real asshole and your mother never knew it herself cuz he wasn't around long enough to find out."

"Maybe," Shane replied, "but I'll always wonder."

Amber looked up and saw what Shane was scraping into the tombstone, it read 'I WILL NEVER FORGET'. Amber remembered how involved Shane used to be with Rachel.

"You really miss her, don't you?"

"Yeah…when we were together…we used to talk about family, having kids…that was before I knew that I was…uh…"

"Immortal?"

"Yeah, and that with Immortality comes…uh…"

"Being barren?"

"Yeah…and Rachel…she used to love talking about being a mother…she could hardly wait…she could hardly wait for anything, she was always in a rush, I just slowed her down."

"You couldn't have known…Shane…"

"Yes?"

"Richie and I are going to Belize so we can keep Jeremy as our own son."

"I know."

"How would…you like to be his godfather?" Amber asked.

Shane's eyes seemed to light up if possible with him, "Really?"

"Yeah."

Shane jumped to his feet and picked Amber up and swung her around, "Oh I would love that! Wait a minute…" Shane held Amber in front of him like a baby doll, "You think he'll like it?"

"Positive, he keeps wanting to come back and see you," Amber said.

Shane laughed whole-heartedly, "I love it!"

"I hate it," Duncan said, "Amanda, they're ready to throw their lives away and you're going to let them?"

"Duncan dearest, they're 25 and 17, I think they're old enough to decide what they want to do with this," Amanda said.

"I just don't want them doing something they'd regret," Duncan said.

"Duncan, it wouldn't be for the rest of their lives," Amanda said.

"That is beside the point, how are they going to explain the Game to Jeremy? They have enemies here in Tampa, they'll have them in Belize."

"We have enemies everywhere we go," Amanda said, "they'll find a way to explain it to him. Besides, they won't be there alone, we'll go visit them, a lot. To be honest I'm getting a little bored staying in Florida…just waiting for the next big hurricane to hit. Besides, do you really want that Wilcox woman to have Jeremy?"

"No I don't, and I can't believe you Connor," Duncan said, "you think she'd be capable of taking care of him?"

"If I'd known she was going to be like she was, I wouldn't have bothered with her," Connor said.

"Connor, you were supposed to go over this BEFORE you made your decision on her," Amanda said.

"Allright, I screwed up, okay? I'm not good at this. I don't like the idea of Jeremy going to another home, but I also don't like him staying here where we can't protect him," Connor said.

"What're we going to do? Sue for joint custody?" Amanda asked.

"It may not be a bad idea," Methos said.

"What?" Amanda laughed.

"Well, before they go through the legal work to make him theirs, we could see about legal reasoning so all of us can have him at different times," Methos said, "the Wilcox family will have him one week, we'll have him the second week."

"And the third week we'll both just grab an arm and pull," Amanda said, "is that it?"

"You really think they'd agree to that?" Duncan asked.

"I can look into it and see what our options are," Methos said, "I think I'll go give them a call."

Methos went into the dining room to use the phone in there, Duncan and Amanda stayed in the living room with Connor.

"What do you think?" Duncan asked.

"I think it'll be a wonder if Wilcox doesn't die laughing," Amanda said.

"It wouldn't be such a bad idea you know, they'd have him part of the time, then Richie and Amber would…"

"Duncan, they'll never agree to that, this lady wants Jeremy to herself so she can turn him into a miniature her," Amanda said, "with people like her around, you don't need these scientists making people into clones, because she can do that herself…Connor I just can't believe that you could be so stupid."

"So I'm a lousy parent, so shoot me," Connor said.

"Duncan," Amanda said.

"What?"

"What's going to happen at the college? How are you going to explain to all the teachers and the dean that Amber and Richie aren't going to be coming in anymore and you and Methos won't be coming in yourselves?"

"I'll find a way…I always do," Duncan said, "Amanda, I know I don't seem like it, but I do want those two to keep Jeremy, I think they'd do a great job with him but they need help, they can't do it all themselves."

"I know, that's why instead of just going to visit, we're going to follow them and we're going to move to Belize with them."

"What?" Duncan asked.

"Duncan, I don't trust them going out there by themselves, they're going to practically be fugitives in this country…well what if someone else follows them and they can't protect themselves, or Jeremy? They need us with them."

"I know, but don't you think they're going to find it a bit odd that we're going to be right behind them?" Duncan asked.

"I've been thinking about that," Amanda said, "Richie and Amber and Jeremy will go ahead in Richie's car and go over the state lines the night before Wilcox comes for Jeremy. We'll stay here until the next day, get everything packed up and go after them."

"Are you sure it'd work?" Duncan asked.

"I don't know but we have two weeks to think of something better if it isn't," Amanda said.

"I have to get home," Amber said as she grabbed her helmet, "we only have two weeks, we better damn well enjoy it."

"Good luck," Shane said.

Amber turned around and faced Shane, "you wanna come meet my family?"

"What? I thought you said…"

"I know what I said…but it's not going to matter anyway," Amber replied, "Mac and Amanda said they'd come visit us when we move to Belize, but they're not going to. They don't want anything to do with us when we move there. Besides, come Thanksgiving our lives as we know it are going to be over, we'll have to start again, they won't be in our lives, so it won't make any difference. And you'll be coming with us to Belize so I'd rather get everything with you out in the open with them now. Besides, if it turns out they don't like you, then that'll just add to reason why they won't come."

"If you're sure," Shane said.

"I'm positive, I don't mind getting lectured and yelled at about what they think is right for my life when they don't know what's good for me at all, but I'm not going to be ashamed of the reason they're chewing me out," Amber returned.

Amber got on her motorcycle and Shane went around and got his car and they headed for Amber's home.

"Hey, is there anything good to eat?" Richie asked as he came down the stairs with Jeremy, "the kid just woke up and I realized we haven't had any lunch yet today."

"Oh there should be something open," Amanda said, "go see if you can find anything."

Richie had Jeremy by the hand as he led the kid into the kitchen.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah Jeremy?"

"Why did that lady hate me?" Jeremy asked.

"She doesn't hate you pal, she hates your mommy and me," Richie explained as he set Jeremy on the kitchen counter.

"Why?" Jeremy asked.

"Well pal," Richie said as he headed over to the fridge, "she doesn't like the way we've been raising you. She thinks that her boring, tedious lifestyle is better for you."

Jeremy let loose a sharp raspberry at his father's comments.

"My sentiments exactly, pal," Richie said as he took a bottle of coke out of the fridge and set it on the table.

"Hey Richie!" the front door opened and Amber came rushing in, "Hey Richie!"

Richie and Jeremy came out of the kitchen, "What is it, Amber?"

"I got an idea, since we'll only be staying in this country about two more weeks, we might as well have fun with the time we've got left. So what say, you me and Jeremy, we all go out and have a good time?"

"Where we going?" Richie asked.

Amber explained her plan to Richie as they headed out the door with Jeremy in between them.

"Well she was rather anxious about that, don't you think?" Amanda asked.

"I wonder where they're going," Connor said.

"Who knows? Maybe they're going to see a bunch of rednecks string each other in trees and leave them hanging by their heels, or biting the heads off chickens and robbing tombstones and whatever else the kids are into these days," Methos said.

"I know I promised you I'd take you to meet my folks, but I got another idea," Amber said, "rather than do that now and get lectured for the next two weeks, I'm going to save introducing you for the night we all pick up and leave."

"Sounds good to me," Shane replied.

Richie, Amber and Jeremy had gone to Pizza Pizzazz, a local pizza parlor that also included a game room for the younger kids, which was exactly where Jeremy had gone, with Richie right behind him to make sure nothing happened while Amber and Shane enjoyed what was left of two pizzas. Amber had had Shane come there so they could talk. She pulled up from under her booth an old camera case, inside were travel brochures and pamphlets and books about Belize.

"Listen to this, 'Belize, the last unexplored frontier near our borders is a naturalist's paradise! Belize is a beautiful, peaceful country in Central America in the heart of the ancient Maya World. It is also one of the best kept secrets of the Caribbean. Due to a progressive thinking government, over half of the land has already been set aside as reserve land. You will not only see signs of civilization as you travel cross-country, you will also see true jungle, mighty and huge old trees, covered in vines, philodendrons, ferns, orchids, and innumerable plant species.' Sounds great for a salad. Anyway, 'Magnificent butterflies, parrots, toucans, hummingbirds, and many other rare birds can be found here. Your rides will take you over trails along rivers, through the rainforests, to underground river caves, and waterfalls with great refreshing swims.' What do you think?" Amber asked.

"Sounds pretty tropical to me," Shane said, "anything else?"

Amber looked at another brochure, "Belize hosts protected areas of coral reef and tropical rainforests, alive with hundreds of bird species, colorful fish, exotic plants and animals. Added features of this nature lover's paradise are inland granite basins at the base of cascading falls whose waters flow through limestone caves en route from the Maya Mountains and tall swaying palm trees bordering sun-drenched beaches of offshore island Cayes dotting the Caribbean. Joining these two "sides" of Belize are a network of rivers, giant Maya pyramids, caves strewn with Maya pottery, coastal towns and villages. An interesting mix of over ten different cultures harmoniously spread across nine destinations tops off the recipe. The result is a mix of adventure possibilities. You can dive the second largest barrier reef in the world, canoe along wild rivers, snorkel the pristine waters of the Caribbean Sea, climb Maya ancient archaeological sites, fly-fish, hike rainforest trails, kayak, bird watch, blah, blah, blah," Amber said as she threw the brochure in the air.

"Is there anything we should look out for in Belize?" Shane asked.

"I don't think so, pretty much the only illness they get there is some kind of flu or something from mosquitoes, even that doesn't seem too bad One major thing though, is in Belize city, people usually get out of there as fast as possible because there's a lot of crime," Amber replied, "I'm just glad it's Belize we're going to and not Honduras."

"How come?" Shane asked as he reached for another piece of pizza.

"How come?" Amber repeated, "Do you know how many problems they have there? For one thing the roads are horrible and they have a lot of accidents there. They have a poor education system, most of the people there don't even speak English, there's 6,417,000 people living there, the majority of them are under age 19. 22 of the people don't have access to clean water, 29 are without health care, 25 without sanitation, the average life expectancy for a man is 63 and 68 for women, which as we both know isn't very old, and if you want to bring religion into this, there's even more bad news. 82 of the people are Roman Catholics, which as we both know is bad news as it is, the Protestant religions are a minority, and then you have the remaining 5 which are the non-religious folk. Do you have any more questions?"

"Yeah, if we are going to Belize, what information do you have gathered for a place to stay?" Shane asked.

"I've been looking into that," Amber said. Amber reached into the case and took out several more pamphlets and brochures, "Here's a vacation home located in Ambergris Caye, Central America. Four bedrooms, 3 and a half baths, enough room for 20 to sleep on two fully furnished suites. The bottom suite is a one bedroom, one and a half baths, and the top suite is on two floors. It has three bedrooms and two baths, and…the inside is supplied with air conditioning, a full kitchen, cable TV, CD player and the place has a huge deck on the upper floor with a grew view of the ocean."

"How about the surrounding area?" Shane asked.

"Surrounding area, minutes from the Caribbean, close to restaurants, shops, and a café close by. Area activities are biking, tennis, a fitness center, miniature golf, fishing, wildlife viewing, sightseeing, swimming, scuba diving, boating, sailing, windsurfing, parasailing, and kayaking."

"How much does this vacation house cost?"

"Well if you want all three floors, then it's $2,200 a week."

"How much is one floor?"

"Bottom floor, $350 a week, plus a $150 no-return deposit, second floor, $1,400 with a $150 no-return deposit, third floor, $1,400 with a $150 no-return deposit…I get it, add them all up, deposits and all and it totals the $2,200."

Shane signaled for a waitress to come to the table, "See any other places you like?"

Amber shuffled through more brochures and pamphlets, "Here's another one…this one's located in San Pedro, Ambergris…five bedrooms, four baths, enough room for 18. Three-bedroom suite on the second floor, two bathrooms and a fully stocked kitchen, beautiful cathedral ceilings in bedrooms…well right away I'd say that one's gone out the window," Amber said.

"How come?" Shane asked.

"If I wanted to see cathedral-related scenery, I'd speak with Lestat de Lioncourt, not my travel agent, of course in our predicament, I don't guess we'll be able to be too picky about it."

A waitress came up to the table with a little notepad and a pen in her hair, "Yeah, what'll you have?"

"Two more large pizzas, one pepperoni and one with olives, and another round of cokes," Shane said.

"And bring some garlic breadsticks," Amber added.

The waitress left and retreated to the kitchen, at that time, Richie came back into the room with Jeremy on his shoulders. "Hey Amber, you would've been proud of our boy."

"What'd he do?" Amber asked.

"Well in the game room," Richie explained as he set Jeremy down in the booth, "there was this other kid, this bigger kid, pushing Jeremy around, poking at him, so what does Jeremy do? He sets one foot back and sends his fist flying into this kid's face, the other kid falls back, and lands on the trampoline and is sent sky-high."

"Allright, Jeremy, my boy," Amber congratulated the kid, "you're becoming a fighter just like your parents."

"So Amber," Richie said, "Who's uh…who's your friend?"

"Shane Pelka," Shane extended his hand out to Richie.

"Nice to meet you, I suppose," Richie said.

"I was telling Shane that when we go to Belize, I want him to come with us, and I also want him to be Jeremy's godfather."

"Oh well," Richie's eyes went ride in realization, "Godfather?" he repeated, "Amber, can I speak to you alone for a minute?"

"No you may not," Amber replied, "Shane is my friend and I want him to come with us, and I want him to be Jeremy's godfather. Now sit down and be quiet."

Jeremy slipped out of the booth beside Amber and went over to sit beside Shane, Richie sat down by Amber.

"Okay, on the first floor to this place, there's two one-bedroom suites on the first floor each with double beds, each with their own bathrooms, cable TVs, verandas and kitchens, so Richie and Jeremy and I can take one suite and you can take the other," Amber said.

"Or we could all try to cram into one bed," Shane joked, "and if not, we could roll the bed out of one suite and over to the next."

"Okay, this place is about a mile from the beach and has all the attractions and activities as the other place."

"You missed something Amber," Richie said, "it says no smoking, so I guess you're just going to have to give that up."

"You smoke?" Shane asked.

"Not since Jeremy arrived," Amber said.

"This place sounds nice, how much is it?" Shane asked.

"Well if we each went for one suite on the first floor, it'd be a hundred bucks a night both ways. Second floor…$2,000 a week, the entire place, $3,500 a week, not counting the $200 deposit for each suite individually, $500 for the second floor, or $1,000 for the entire house."

"Can't we get anything cheaper?" Richie asked.

"We could try finding a simple house to rent at first, but I'm afraid there wouldn't be enough room for all of us, some of these places are known for having large decks and verandas, but very small living rooms." Amber showed Richie of another house, "Look at this, two bedrooms, one bathroom, $90 a night plus hotel taxes."

"Hand it here."

Amber shoved the brochure across the table and Shane looked at it for a while, "No problem, you three could take the inside, and I'll sleep on the deck."

"What about when there's a storm?" Amber asked.

"Bedroom, deck, during a storm I don't think it'd matter because it's all the same likely to be destroyed," Shane explained.

The waitress came back with two more pizzas, garlic breadsticks, and four bottles of coke.

"What's this?" Richie asked.

"Don't worry, I'm picking up the check," Shane insisted.

"Hey, here's one," Amber said, "a lovely three bedroom, two bathroom house, it daily maid service at your request, king-sized beds in each room, a fully equipped kitchen for at-home meals, a fully furnished living room with cable television, in-house telephone to receive phone calls or for your use with phone cards, two decks with deck chairs for your outdoor leisure time, and a magnificent view of the ocean."

"How much?" Richie asked.

"$200 a night…you gotta admit Richie, it'd be better if we found a place there before leaving."

"Yeah, but where would we get a load of cash like that?" Richie asked.

"I know," Shane said.

"What?" they asked.

"You can get the money from me, I have buried under the elm tree at the cemetery a lead box with $250,000."

"Are you serious?" Amber asked.

"If I'm lying," Shane said, "may I shrink to the size of a schnauzer."

"Can you believe that?" Richie asked.

"I can believe it," Amber replied, "but where'd you get all that money?"

"Vegas," Shane grinned, "I got in a fight playing blackjack, and this guy knocks me in the jaw, sends me flying across the room, I hit a slot machine and hit the jackpot."

"You really believe that?" Richie asked.

"Sure…it could've happened…besides, when we leave, we'd be closing our accounts ourselves."

"Our accounts?" Richie repeated, "what do you mean?"

"We moved in with Mac, he opened up two separate accounts for each of us at the bank, each account with $10,000, which has made some interest over the past year. Did you forget about that?"

"Yeah, I guess I must've," Richie replied.

"You put our money together, and we got enough to last us for quite a while, meantime we'd be taking jobs to keep the money coming in, so we wouldn't have to worry about affording a place to stay," Amber explained.

"What kind of work could we find though?" Richie asked.

"More or less anything you could get here I'm guessing," Amber said, "which reminds me, Richie."

"What?"

"When we do leave, we're going to be going separately, especially since Wilcox might inform the police to look out for two young people together with a little kid."

"So what did you have in mind?" Richie asked.

"Well you'd cross through here first on your bike…then I come in behind you in your car with our stuff packed up, and Shane comes behind us in his car with Jeremy."

"Are you sure about that?" Richie asked.

"I'm still not sure if what we're doing is right," Duncan said.

"Why not?" Amanda asked.

"I just don't think it's a good idea," Duncan said.

"Do you have a better one?" Amanda asked.

"No."

"There, you see?" Amanda asked, "It might not be all that good an idea, but right now it's the only one we have."

"Methos, what do you think?" Duncan asked.

"About what?"

"About moving with the kids to Belize."

"Well, it's not Bora Bora, but it's better than most tropical places," Methos replied, "besides, we wouldn't be talking for an eternity, we're talking what…about 12 years, then when Jeremy's grown and has his own life, we go about our own business."

"Under new identities," Duncan added.

"Well it wouldn't be a first for me," Methos replied.

"What does Connor say about this?" Duncan asked.

"I'm not inviting him to live with us," Amanda answered.

"What?" Duncan asked, "Why?"

"Duncan, he is nice to Richie, rude to Amber and doesn't want either one of them to have Jeremy…you want to live with that pain in the kilt?" Amanda asked.

"Britches," Methos corrected.

"If you want to live with him, then it's your own business," she told him, "but I'm not going to. Look, we haven't figured out everything we're going to do yet, but we've got 14 days to decide. Let's get on it."

The late afternoon was starting to turn to night, the sun would be starting to set soon. Amber, Richie and Jeremy were on their way home. Richie was at the wheel, Amber was right beside him, and Jeremy was starting to drift off to sleep in the back seat, using as a pillow the stuffed weasel he'd one back at the Pizza Pizzazz. Everything was quiet for a while, when Richie decided to ask, "How exactly did you meet Shane?"

"Remember when Connor first got here?" Amber asked.

"Yeah."

"When Jeremy and I were leaving the church, we went down the property to get my car, and surprise-surprise, there was Shane, coming at us. We headed into the cemetery because I knew he wouldn't attack on Holy Ground. Turns out he didn't want to fight at all, he was just getting in and ready to go to sleep."

"In the cemetery?" Richie asked.

"Yes, he sleeps under the elm tree in the cemetery, which is by the grave of Rachel Kruger."

"Who is Rachel Kruger?" Richie asked.

"She was his girlfriend, he was 21, she was 18, her parents didn't like him, they didn't even want him at the funeral for a final farewell."

"How'd she die?" Richie asked.

"Hit and run," Amber answered, "he's had a very weird life, his father knew his mother for a short period of time, and left before she even knew she was pregnant with him. His mother died not too long ago, he fell in love with a girl who wanted to get away from her home, she died, then not too long ago, he died. He's still new to the Game, so I have a lot to explain to him."

"Amber, how can you be sure that this guy isn't…"

"The new Immortal in town who's killing off everyone, yes Richie, I know all about that, and that was the first thing that went through my mind after Shane and I met," Amber said, "that's why I didn't tell you before."

"So why is all this coming out into the open now?" Richie asked.

"Well, I want him to come to Belize with us, and I wanted to get you two acquainted before we left," Amber said, "I was going to take him home to introduce to Mac and Amanda, but I decided to save that for the night we leave."

"Why?"

"Because they're not going to like him, face it Richie, not a lot of people would be comfortable around a guy who looks like the Kurgan, and can be as intimidating as him," Amber said.

"How do you know about the Kurgan?" Richie asked.

"Connor told me about that a long time ago," Amber replied, "before this."

"You think you and him will ever be on friendly terms again?" Richie asked.

"That's not for me to decide, and to be honest I really could not care less," Amber returned.

"Well, I say we get home and…"

"Wait!"

Richie slammed on the brake and the car swerved around in the middle of the road.

"What is it?" Richie asked.

"We're not going home, Richie, oh no, not now anyway," Amber said.

"What?" Richie asked, "Are you crazy? What're we going to do?"

Amber looked back through her open window, "There's a store back there, they got a payphone outside, I'm going to make some calls, I have an idea."

"Oh joy."

"Shut up and get back there," Amber said.

"Mommy, what's going on?" Jeremy groggily asked.

"Mommy's going to make a few phone calls to some people."

"Who?"

"Some friends that you haven't met yet, and a few you have."

Richie parked the car across the street from the store. They all got out and closed their doors. Amber kept her camera case hanging from its strap, which was slung over her shoulder almost like a purse. Jeremy and Richie followed behind her and scrambled across the cross walk, Amber reached the payphone and picked up the receiver, Richie was right behind her with Jeremy beside him.

"Amber, are you crazy? Who're you going to call?" Richie asked.

Amber felt a bit humorous, so she lowered the receiver and answered, "Ghostbusters…"

"Amber!"

"Richie, I'm going to call some of our friends at the college, we're going to get settled into a little get together tonight," Amber said as she slipped a quarter in the phone.

"You can't be serious," Richie said.

"I can be and I am, we're going to meet at that alcove right outside the college and I'm going to explain then and there our little situation," Amber said.

"Crazy, you really are," Richie said.

"Oh yeah?" Amber asked, "what're you going to do about it?"

Richie jerked Amber by her shirt and slammed her up against a soda machine at the side of the building. Amber slipped to the ground and leaned against the machine, she put her hand behind her head where she'd hit it.

"Amber, I'm sorry, are you allright?" Richie asked.

"I think so," Amber quietly answered, "although I think I'm hearing things, it sounds like it's hailing."

Amber moved from the machine and Richie saw what was making the noise, "It's not hail, Amber, look."

Amber turned around and looked down and saw dozens of quarters and dollar bills slipping out of the machine's change slot.

"Well now I know I have enough quarters for the phone," Amber said.

Amber picked up handfuls of the quarters and stuffed them in her pockets, she also picked up a few bills and handed them to Richie.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Well this machine's obviously busted by now," Amber said, "take Jeremy inside and get us some cold drinks, this could take a while."

"I forgot to tell you about the conversation I had today with Wilcox," Methos said.

"How'd that go?" Duncan asked.

"Yeah, what'd that old battleaxe say?" Amanda asked.

"I didn't speak to her, I spoke with her husband, he agrees very much with her that Jeremy needs culture and discipline and a very respectable education, I don't think they'd be willing to go along with it," Methos said.

"What're we going to do?" Duncan asked.

"What else?" Amanda asked, "we move to Central America, that's what we do. I'm going to start packing."

"Amanda!"

"What? I'm just going to start on the knick knacks nobody's going to notice missing," Amanda explained, "you know, the little things, the stuff that breaks."

Duncan sighed as Amanda left the room, he turned around to Methos, "Do you believe her?"

"Actually I think the first thing she should start packing is most of her clothes, you know she'd never notice them missing," Methos said.

"Methos, this is serious," Duncan said.

"I know it is, but what do you want me to do? I can't argue with it especially since I think it's a good idea."

"Has this whole household gone mad?" Duncan asked.

"I'm not sure but if I ever get to the point I need a strait jacket and a padded cell, I'll be sure and let you know," Methos replied.

"Yeah Shelby, we're meeting at the alcove tonight at…9 o' clock…no, no you can't bring beer…you'll know why when you get there," Amber said, "I said no booze and also, leave your cigarettes home tonight."

Richie and Jeremy sat on the hood to their car while Amber stayed on the payphone across the street.

"Daddy?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah pal?" Richie asked.

"Can I go over with mommy?"

"No, pal, while she's on the phone, you gotta stay here with me," Richie replied.

"How come?" Jeremy asked.

"Well, pal," Richie exhaled, "Your mommy's calling up some people about stuff that you really don't want to stand around listening to."

Jeremy was silent for a minute, then he asked Richie, "Can I get Billy out of the back?"

Richie made a bit of a hacking noise, "Sure, pal."

Jeremy slipped off of the hood and went around and opened the door on the back seat and took out the stuffed weasel. When he closed the door he was still for a second, then with the weasel in his hands, he scurried across the crosswalk with Richie right behind him.

"Mommy," Jeremy said as he tugged on Amber's jeans by the lower part of a hole she'd cut into them.

Amber looked down and held the receiver against her neck, "Yes Jeremy?"

"Can I stay here with you? Daddy's no fun," Jeremy said.

"Sure, sure," Amber replied, "you can stick around here, I've still got a few phone calls to make."

"Amber, you can't…"

"Richie, Jeremy's been with you most of the day, now let him spend some time with his mother," Amber said, "hey Jeremy, as soon as I'm through making calls, I'll show you how to change the lights and signals on traffic signs while the drivers are putting on their brakes."

"Okay mommy," Jeremy laughed, "can you do the trick with the machine again?"

"Uh, no Jeremy, that kind of a trick only works once every so often," Amber replied, "but I can do something else."

"What?" Jeremy asked.

Amber put the receiver back over the switch hook and picked up her camera case and opened it. She led Jeremy over to a gumball machine over by the potted plants at the front of the store. She ran her slightly pointed fingernail across the plastic globe of the machine twice, making a large X in the plastic. Then she rammed her fist against the machine and it busted, gumballs spilling out everywhere. She caught many of them in her case, when they had stopped running onto the pavement and into the street and rolling off the curb, she lowered the case to Jeremy's reach.

"Go ahead and pick one."

"Mommy, how'd you do that?" Jeremy asked.

"Cheap plastic and sharp nails," Amber said as they went back to the payphone.

"Nice things to be teaching the kid, Amber," Richie said sarcastically.

"Oh please, Richie…if memory serves, you were doing worse stuff at my age," Amber said.

"That's different," Richie said.

"How?" Amber dialed another number and waited while the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey Myron! I got something to tell you…well you see, a bunch of us are getting together at the alcove near the college," Amber said, "well Richie and I have something to tell everybody, but we're all gonna get together and have a bloody good time too, kinda like a party…yeah, except there's going to be a few rules at this one, no smoking, no drinking, no obscene comments and nothing disgusting…you'll find out why when we get there. Now, call up all your buddies from the football team and tell them what I just told you…we're meeting tonight at nine."

Duncan peered out through the blinds in the living room and looked out the window, nothing.

"I'm starting to get worried," Duncan said, "it's after six thirty and they're still not back yet."

"Well Duncan, there are a lot of things that they could be doing right now," Amanda said, "they probably want to have the best time they can before they have to leave for Central America…I wouldn't worry, they could be doing anything right now."

"Like what?" Duncan asked.

"Went out to dinner, go to a ballgame, see a movie, maybe they're at the bowling alley, or a pool hall, perhaps they went out roller skating, who knows? Maybe they crossed through town and headed to Disney World…I don't know, the possibilities are endless."

Methos came into the living room, "Amber's on the phone, she says if you're busy she could just leave the message with me."

"What's she say?" Duncan asked.

"She said that they won't be home tonight, they're meeting with some of their friends to explain to them, in a less incriminating state than the truth, why they'll be leaving the states."

"Where're they meeting?" Duncan asked.

"She refused to answer on that since she didn't want you coming down and busting up the party," Methos said.

"I don't believe this, how stupid can she be?" Duncan asked, "These are college kids, they want to drag Jeremy through a mess like that, what are they thinking?"

"Duncan, shut up," Amanda said, "It's not a kegger, it's just a farewell, so let them do it."

"Do you want to talk to her or not?" Methos asked.

Duncan went into the kitchen and picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Mac?"

"Richie, where's Amber?"

"Oh well, she's teaching Jeremy how to stuff a potato up a tailpipe, how's everything going there? Is everyone allright?"

"Yeah, we're fine…Richie, how are you?"

"I'm doing fine…but…to be honest I'm still not too sure about this whole thing."

"Why?"

"I don't know, I've just got this awful feeling that we're not considering something…that we're doing something wrong…it's like there's some other option and we just don't know what it is."

"What's this I hear that you're getting everyone together to tell them goodbye?" Duncan asked.

"It's Amber's plan, she thought of it, and she's been calling up everyone from the college we know. We're meeting tonight at nine and…"

"I know, you won't be home tonight," Duncan finished.

"Yeah…is that allright?"

"Richie…you don't need my permission for this, it's what you decide to do."

"I know…but I still don't know for sure if this is what we should be doing, but I can't think of any other way and I'm not going to let them take Jeremy."

Duncan heard Richie move the receiver from his ear, "Oh shit," he said in a low voice, "Mac, I gotta go. In fact, we all gotta get going before someone sicks the cops on us."

"Okay, goodbye."

The phone clicked on the other end and Duncan hung up as well and headed back into the living room.

"Well?" Amanda asked, "What'd they say?"

"They uh…won't be home until morning, so…I guess it's useless to stay up waiting on them," Duncan said.

"So what do we do now?" Amanda asked.

"I don't know," Duncan replied as he sat down beside Amanda on the couch.

They were silent for a few minutes, after a while, Duncan asked, "Where's Connor?"

"He's upstairs, in his room…locked himself in and hasn't come out for about two hours now," Amanda explained.

"Oh."

"Duncan."

"Yes?"

"How long have Amber and Richie been living with us?"

"About a year, give or take a few weeks."

"Allright, so…this is the first time since they've been here that we don't have to worry about them here, right?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, so what?"

"So, if we've got nothing to worry about, I say we get Methos and Connor and go out for dinner…I'm tired of the aphrodisiac crap Methos cooks every night."

Duncan laughed, "Allright, I guess being out one night won't do anyone much harm."

"What time is it?" Richie asked.

Amber tapped at her watch, "going on seven."

"So what're we going to do for the next two hours?" Richie asked, "I'm getting tired of waiting."

"Yeah, you and Jeremy both," Amber noted as she saw Jeremy asleep in the back seat again, once again using his stuffed weasel as a pillow.

"I have an idea," she said, "why don't we find a phone booth and make some prank calls?"

"Amber."

"What? If we're going to be getting out of here in the next two weeks, we might as well do something enjoyable now."

"Amber…no, I don't mind you teaching Jeremy how to make a car exhaust explode or how to knock off a vending machine, but you're not going to teach him how to do this."

"Allright," Amber put her feet up on the dashboard, "Let's find a phone, and send a dozen pizzas over to the convent."

"Amber…"

"Allright, then you think of something," Amber said.

Richie thought for a few minutes, his head leaning against the steering wheel, finally he got an idea, "We could go over to the dean's house, and egg his car."

"Egg his car?" Amber asked, "I got a better idea, let's strip his car to the rims, then egg it, and then we'll egg and TP his house, soap his windows, and then we'll get a brown paper bag, and a dog, and a…"

"Amber!"

"What? You gotta admit Richie, the dean has it coming to him, besides, pretty soon, we won't even be here to get even with him, so what else would you suggest?" Amber asked.

"I don't know," Richie said, "I can't think straight tonight."

"Richie, I know you're not sure we're doing the right thing by skipping the country, but do you really think we should stay here and take our licks and just let this woman walk all over us and take Jeremy?" Amber asked.

"You know I don't want that," Richie said.

"Allright, that in mind, let's figure out what we're going to do for the next two hours," Amber said.

Richie thought for a minute, "How about a movie?"

"Na, nothing good's showing…how about we go to the pool hall?" Amber asked.

"You think they'll let Jeremy in?" Richie asked.

"Richie, it's a pool hall, not a bar…now come on, the pool hall's just down the street a few blocks…"

Duncan, Amanda, Connor and Methos had returned from their dinner and were just now coming through the front door.

"Well that was an…enlightening evening," Methos said as he patted at his seemingly swollen stomach, "now I think I'll go to my room, take off my belt and…belch till the cows come home."

Methos started up the stairs with Connor not too far behind him. No doubt he was going to lock himself in his bedroom again for whatever reason he was. Duncan and Amanda made their way to the living room and settled down on the couch.

"Duncan," Amanda said.

"Yes?"

"Isn't there someone you know who could come and get Jeremy?" Amanda asked, "You know, as a backup plan."

"What do you mean?" Duncan asked.

"Well, let's say the kids can't get out of the state, letalone Central America…say they're stuck here, don't you know someone who could take Jeremy?"

"I don't know…I probably could, but just about everyone I know who I trust is Immortal…we said he wouldn't be safe with us, how could he be safe with them?"

"What if they live in Holy Ground?" Amanda asked.

"Well there's still a trust issue," Duncan said as he flipped on the TV, "you know just as well as I do that Richie and Amber aren't going to allow another Immortal to take him if they can't keep him themselves."

"Well that's true." Amanda turned her attention to the latest news story on the television, "Oh my God."

"What is it?" Duncan asked.

"Duncan, look!"

The college building may have been dark, but the campus grounds were not. Almost every square foot had been taken up, the parking lot at the entrance to the campus grounds, the football field, the alcove, especially the alcove. Students all drove up in their cars and pickup trucks and motorcycles, leaving the keys in the ignitions to keep the lights on. Others took out road flares and had them lighting up the area, a lot of them were running around whooping and hollering and dancing, all waiting for the guests of honor to arrive.

"So where are they?" Mizz asked.

"They said 9 P.M., we're still a little early," Shelly said.

Tina Cage took out her boom box and turned it to a certain radio station. "We might as well have some entertainment while we wait," she announced.

"_It's Initiation Week down here at the Rocking MF Nation radio station at 98.6, all night you'll be listening to some of the best and worst music of the year and of the previous decade all night long, all at the sick and demented hands of some very disturbed, very willing would-be DJs for 98.6. I'll be introducing the rookies every hour on the hour, until then it's going to be another thirty minutes of yours truly, the twisted and insane and above all, proud of it, Doctor Dementia, because when I'm on, all you young people's brain cells rot and turn to mush, as you too, become crazy."_

A loud and obscene hard rock song came on the air and a bunch of the kids went crazy, some of them jumped on top of their cars and started dancing while others went off to the football field. Some kids picked up garbage cans and chucked them at the college, others took some of the garbage cans, and everything inside of them, doused the inside with lighter fluid and tossed in their road flares, blazing red and gold flames shooting up, smoke filling the air, all this, while they waited for the guests of honor, they still had twenty-five minutes.


	16. Chapter 16

Richie parked his car a block off from the campus due to the crowd already there. They got out and saw the fire and everybody dancing and running around and they heard the loud music.

"Well, looks like we know where the party is," Amber said.

"Are you sure about this?" Richie asked.

"Sure." 

Jeremy saw the commotion and held onto his weasel with one hand and clung to Richie with the other. Richie knelt down and picked Jeremy up, "Come on pal, we got an appearance to make."

They made their way through the crowd and everybody stopped in their tracks. Tina shut off her boom box as Amber and Richie got past everyone and were in view for everyone to see. Amber stepped on top of a car so she could make sure everyone had shown up. After that, she raised her hands above her head for everyone to listen. 

"Listen, we called all of you out here tonight for a reason…now this may be the last time that all of us are here together…in thirteen days, Richie and I are leaving town, and skipping the country, and we won't be returning."

Gasps of shock arose from everywhere, some people replied with "what?" to make sure they'd heard correctly.

"How come?" Mizz asked.

Amber knelt down and picked Jeremy up on top of the car with her. She took much pleasure in showing him off to the stunned crowd, "This is Jeremy…he's six years old…and for the last week and a half basically, Richie and I have been taking care of him as our own…in doing so, breaking several laws in the legal system that everyone is familiar with, and maybe some that you probably aren't. He's been living with us because Richie found him the night that the Florida police busted into his parents' home and took them into custody for drug-related charges among God-knows what else. In doing so, we have committed kidnapping, as well as aiding and abetting since the rest of us at the house decided to go along with it."

"Now, legally what we did was wrong, morally I beg to disagree…all of you who drove here, honk if you disagree too."

Her comment was answered by dozen car horns sounding off, Richie looked around and couldn't believe the unexpected response.

"Well, in the beginning everything was just peachy cuz it was me, Richie, and Adam Pierson taking care of him…that was fine for the first week, then Duncan MacLeod and his wife Amanda found out…then we got into a fight about Jeremy's position," Amber continued, "so, Duncan called in his cousin from New York, Connor MacLeod…he arranged for a social worker, who so desperately wants to be a mother, to take Jeremy, her name is Jeanessa Wilcox. Honk if you've heard of the louse."

This time, fewer horns were honking, but there was not much of a decrease from the one before.

"Well, as those of you who just answered may or may not know, Jeanessa is married to top notch attorney Ernie Wilcox, so even if we had a prayer of taking this to court to win, her husband's name is so big in this area, nothing we could say would mean jack to the judge. She's arranging to get a court order to come and take Jeremy so she can take care of all the legal mumbo jumbo to make him lawfully hers…she'll be coming in thirteen days and since we don't have a chance of staying here and fighting them and even winning, Richie and I are packing up our stuff, and getting the hell out of Florida the night before she's supposed to come.

"We're heading to Belize where even if they do try us for kidnapping, the law won't be able to touch us, unfortunately we also won't be able to return to the states, now the reason we're meeting with all of you tonight is because the next several days are going to be pretty crazy for us, so if we don't see some, or any of you again after tonight…we'd like to thank you all for being great friends to us while we were here, and we wish you all the luck in the world at…whatever the hell you're going to do when you get out of this miserable college."

There was an eerie silence after she spoke. Everybody looked at one another, and nobody knew what to say.

"Look," Richie said, "we got you all together to tell you our farewells now, but that's not the only reason why we called you all here…since this may be the last time we're going to be seeing all of you, we decided to end it on a good note, one final party before we move to Central America…"

"That's right," Amber said as she came down from the car, "Now look, just because this might be the final time we're all together, I don't want to see anyone here turning sour. We came for a party, that's what we're going to have. I saw some of your handy work when we were on our way up here…so go crazy, because it'll be the last chance all of us have. The next two weeks are going to be hectic and insane and memorable, and we're going to have a damn good time doing whatever we're going to do, because in two weeks it's all going to be over…allright, now I've spoken, now everybody put your eyes back in your heads, and get ready to raise hell and wake the dead. Since this is the last time we'll be in the country, we're going to make the most of it, and enjoy it because when we leave, we're not going to have any regrets about it. That said, let the games begin, let's go crazy until the break of dawn." 

"Tina, may I see your boom box?" Richie asked.

"Sure…" Tina handed it over to Richie, "What for?"

"Well it's my understanding that good ol' Doctor Dementia is initiating some new DJs at his radio station all night tonight with music that would make Jimi Hendrix raise from the dead and give Marilyn Manson competition."

Richie cranked up the volume as a new song was started.

_"Hello Dad, happy birthday, I'm in jail!"_

"You hear that Richie?" Amber asked, "They're playing our song!" 

"Don't I know it?" Richie smiled. 

Mizz came up to Amber a bit cautiously, "Hey Amber."

Amber turned around to face him, "What is it?"

"Are you allright about having to leave?" he asked.

"Yeah…I think it'll be good to get out of here, the legal system wouldn't work in favor of us, you know that…and Jeremy's important to Richie, so it's important to Richie that he stays with us." 

"Well," Mizz said, "if you can get away with it, more power to you." 

The night was filled with fire, smoke, loud music, people screaming and whooping and howling, and everybody dancing around on the campus grounds.

It was after five in the morning when the smoke finally died down, everybody was heading for home now. Richie, Amber and Jeremy got in Richie's car to go home themselves.

"Was it good for you?" Richie asked.

"Hell of a party," Amber said, "hell of a way to go out." 

The front door swung open as Richie came in carrying Jeremy with Amber right behind them, "We're home!"

They went into the living room where Duncan and Amanda remained seated on the couch, almost in shock to see them.

"What?" Richie asked, "We just got home, how can we be in trouble?" 

"Where were you last night?" Duncan asked, his voice between shock and anger.

"The college grounds," Amber said, "why?"

"We didn't know where you were or who to call," Amanda said, "we were worried sick."

"Why?" Richie asked.

"Look at this," Duncan pointed to the television.

They came further into the room and glanced at the screen, there was a report of a missing person, Ernestine Wilcox, missing 39 hours and counting.

"Nobody's seen him since he left on a business trip the day before last at 3 in the afternoon," Methos announced as he came down the stairs. 

"Have you been up all night watching too?" Amanda asked.

"No, I turned it on to see if these two geniuses got arrested sometime in the night, you have no idea how glad I am that they didn't." 

"What do you think happened to this guy?" Richie asked.

"Could be anything," Methos said.

The telephone rang in the dining room and Methos went to answer it. 

"How was your night?" Duncan asked.

"Best time I've had in a long time," Amber said, "how 'bout you, Richie?"

"Fine with me," he said, "it'll probably be the last time we see all of the guys, but it was great."

"Well I bet after last night you two want to crawl into bed and die," Amanda said.

"No, not really," Richie said, "I feel fine."

"Me too."

"What about little Jeremy?" Duncan asked.

"He slept on the hood of Richie's car for four hours using his new stuffed weasel as a pillow, he's fine," Amber insisted.

"Are you sure?" Duncan asked.

"Positive, we never took our eyes off him," Richie said.

"Well that's good," Amanda said, "as many kidnappings as we got every day, especially here in Florida, it's important to watch him." 

"Well we are," Richie said.

Amber whispered something in Jeremy's ear, Richie let him down and Jeremy went over to the couch, and climbed on top of Duncan, "HIYA GRANDPA!"

"Where did he learn to talk like that?" Duncan laughed.

"From mommy," Jeremy answered.

"And how'd mommy teach you that?" Duncan asked.

"Huey." 

"Well…why all of a sudden does he seem so comfortable with being around Duncan?" Amanda asked.

"Well I told Jeremy that pretty soon we wouldn't be seeing any of you, so he might as well try and get along with Duncan now," Amber said. 

"But Amber…"

"Duh…Duh…Duh…" Jeremy said.

"What's he doing?" Duncan asked.

"Trying to say your name," Amber replied.

"Duh…Duh…Dumb-dumb." 

Duncan looked up at Richie and Amber, a bit surprised.

"Good enough, Jeremy," Amber said, "Come on Richie, let's get the kid cleaned up and get him some breakfast."

"Allright," Richie picked Jeremy up off of Duncan's lap and carried him upstairs with Amber following behind.

"They sure make a cute little family," Amanda said.

"I suppose so."

Methos came back in the living room, looking pale as a sheet.

"Methos, are you okay?" Amanda asked.

"I just got off the phone," he said, "…that was Joe…another Immortal has been killed within the area."

"Who?" Duncan asked.

Methos turned impossibly paler as he answered, "Ernestine Wilcox…found about an hour ago by the Watchers…they've called in their cleanup crew to take care of the body and dispose of it and any incriminating evidence that could prove someone was there."

"So now what happens?" Amanda asked.

"Nothing, there'll be no ceremony, they'll just bury the body in their cemetery…or maybe they'll cremate it."

"I mean about that Wilcox lady, if she finds out that her husband is dead she'll think one of us killed him. She'll never stop coming after us, and what about Jeremy? Do you think after her husband's disappeared she'd still be up for taking him?" Amanda asked.

"I don't think so," Methos said, "her husband was the one who knew his way around the courts, it'll be harder for her to get a court order without him."

"Who says she's going to wait for a court order? She could just go crazy, come over here and decide to take him," Amanda replied. 

"If she does, then we'll kill her," Methos said.

"Methos!" 

"MacLeod, it wouldn't matter if she went stark raving mad, no jury in the country would put her away in an asylum, they'd have her back in her own home because the idea of her in an insanity prison would tarnish her image."

"I can't believe the way this is turning out," Duncan said. 

Everyone was silent for a few minutes, no one knew quite what to say, finally Methos spoke up, "he can't have been missing for 39 hours, I spoke to him only yesterday."

Duncan and Amanda turned to see Methos, who seemed to be in a rather calm, and surprised state, "What?" they asked.

"Ernestine Wilcox…I spoke to him yesterday afternoon on the phone, he was there, he said…"

"Can you be sure of that?" Duncan asked.

"Of course MacLeod, I know how to use the telephone."

"I mean, do you know for sure it was Wilcox?" Duncan asked, "It could've been someone else."

"But who?" Methos asked.

Amber came storming into the living room with Richie and Jeremy right behind her, "I got an idea."

"What is it?" Duncan asked.

"Maybe Wilcox didn't just have an unfortunate run-in with another Immortal…maybe his wife wanted him out of the way…"

"Amber, what are you getting at?" Amanda asked.

"This is how I'm seeing it…she doesn't want him around anymore, but she's got nothing to gain from divorce, maybe he's some kind of clause in his will or something that it'd double for some reason…she can't necessarily do it herself, she'd be the first suspect…so she brings in a hit man who just happens to be Immortal also…now she's not picky on how she wants him killed, just make it look like it won't point at her…maybe she tells him to do whatever comes to mind, and he says he'll take it from there…and he just happened to be at the house when Methos called. Now they can't make anything look too weird cuz you never quite know who'd be calling, so this guy poses as Wilcox for the call, hangs up and gets his hide out of there before anything else can happen," Amber explained, "that's the way I see it."

"You might have something there," Methos said.

"I don't know, the whole thing sounds pretty weird to me," Duncan said.

"Life is weird, MacLeod, I'll see what I can find out," Methos replied as he got up.

"This has certainly been a weird day," Amanda said, "and it's not even eight o' clock."

"I agree," Richie said. 

Duncan had gone up to see Connor and try to get him to come out of his room. He found Connor rather busy, arguing with himself, so he had Connor join him at the table in the middle of his room, while he tried to reason with him.

"Connor, why don't you just try talking to them?" Duncan asked, "you can't stay in your room the entire stay."

"Perhaps not but I tell you I can very well try," Connor replied, "Duncan, they're not going to want to talk to me unless it's to insult me and you know it…not that I wouldn't have it coming after what's happened."

"Connor, they're not blaming you."

"Oh yeah? Then why is it that they're still talking about packing and leaving for Central America?" Connor asked.

"Because there's no getting around the fact that this woman could very well still try and come for Jeremy…we don't know what she's thinking…the kids think that she hired a hit man to kill her husband…Methos is looking into his life insurance policy to see if the amount would increase under some certain conditions…Connor, even if she hadn't acted with us the way she did, that wouldn't change what's happening now."

"So what's the verdict?" Connor asked, "Is Jeremy staying here or are we going into another custody battle?"

"We don't know," Duncan replied, "We can't decide what to do about this."

"I think I might know a way it can work out for everyone," Connor said, "if it would, I'd rather they think it was your idea…if they found out it came from me, they'd never go for it."

"What is it?" 

"So where are you taking Jeremy today?" Amanda asked.

"There's a baseball game today, I think it'll do the kid some good to get out, and see what it's like at a real game," Amber replied, "all the excitement on the field, the screaming fans cheering on the teams, not to mention everyone going ballistic, when a baseball flies into the stadium."

"Providing I don't catch another one in the mouth, it should be great," Richie added.

The three of them left and Duncan came down the stairs a few seconds afterwards, "Where're they going?" he asked.

"To a ballgame, how'd it go talking with Connor?" Amanda asked. 

"Not so well, but he's got an idea I think would work," Duncan said. 

"What is it?" Amanda asked.

"Do you remember Michelle Webster?" Duncan asked.

"Of course, but what's she got to do with this?" Amanda asked. 

"Where's the phone?"

"Methos has it, he's been talking to people for about an hour now…I don't know why or to whom though…"

They heard the phone get hung up and Methos entered the living room, "Well you won't believe what I just found out."

"What is it?" Amanda asked.

"Ernestine Wilcox saw to it that his insurance policy would double from $150,000 in the event that he was murdered."

"Well now that's odd," Amanda said, "usually they have them double in case of an accident, or…an act of God…or whatever they call it." 

"Yes but he was apparently smarter than most," Methos said, "you take the cause of death and it practically screams murder, that way she'd be made a prime suspect from the start."

"Yeah but it doesn't make sense, you said the Watchers' cleaning crew was taking care of the body already," Duncan replied.

"I said they'd be coming in later to do something with the body," Methos corrected him, "they may not have come in yet, the hit man may have already gotten to it."

"A fine thing…we try and get a nice home for Jeremy, and this has to happen," Amanda said. 

"I don't believe this," Richie said.

"What?" 

"What? Sixty bucks to get in, get good seats, a few hotdogs and three cokes that's what."

"Hey, how do you think people make money working around here?" Amber asked.

"True…" 

"Besides, if you ask me I think it's a wonder they didn't charge us to replace the ball," Amber added.

"Why? Just because it gets caught in some guy's mouth, and he can't get it out until after the game you think they're going to charge us for that?" Richie asked.

Amber looked down at the rubber ball Jeremy was holding; it still had the teeth marks embedded in it.

"All I can say is it's a good thing we went to see a baseball game and not tennis, if Shane got that caught in his teeth like the baseball, it would've exploded."

"True, although that would've been a sight to see," Richie commented. 

"Daddy," Jeremy looked up at Richie.

"Yeah?" 

"Where are we going now?" Jeremy asked.

"Well why don't you ask your mother that?" Richie asked, "She hasn't bothered to tell me yet."

"Okay…mommy," Jeremy turned and looked up at Amber.

Amber laughed, "We are going to see the monster truck rally down by the race tracks, it starts in half an hour."

"Oh boy!"

"Amber, do you think that's a good idea?" Richie asked.

"Will you stop worrying? We're going to watch the rally, not participate in it…I swear Richie, sometimes you can be a real mother." 

"Well providing I never have to wear a dress I don't think I have too much of a problem with that." 

The days went by and Richie and Amber made good time with the two weeks they had. Ernestine Wilcox's body had been found and buried, but that didn't seem to have much effect on Jeanessa. She was still determined to come and take Jeremy away. Duncan had taken Connor's advice and called Michelle Webster and explained their current situation, as well as the backup plan. Richie and Amber still had no idea that when they left for Belize, Amanda, Duncan, and Methos would be coming with them, and they were all for keeping it that way. In any case, the kids spent so little time at home they wouldn't have much chance of hearing it.

They preferred going out for the time being, and exposing Jeremy to all the upsides of getting out of the house; bowling alleys, pool halls, arcades, ball games, amusement parks, the movie theaters, races at the tracks, water parks, etc.

Of course, they kept busy at home too, at night when they returned home, they worked on Jeremy's reading along with other things, within time he started showing some improvement. 

Jeremy had learned how to write capital letters, so now they were working on printing. Amber kept Jeremy distracted while Richie wrote everything out on a pad of paper.

"Allright Jeremy, now when Amanda and Dumb-dumb come in here, you're going to be nice to both of them, aren't you?" Amber asked.

Jeremy shook his head, "No!"

Amber tilted her head and looked at Jeremy, "Now Jeremy, what did mama say about Dumb-dumb?"

Jeremy looked at her for a minute, "Be nice to Dumb-dumb, because he's just a pond in this."

Amber laughed, "I said pawn, but good guess…and what else did I say about Dumb-dumb?"

Jeremy thought for a minute, "Dumb-dumb wouldn't know fun if it came up and kicked him, because he's just a prune."

"That probably suits him better than anything," Amber laughed, "but I said prude."

"What's the difference?" Jeremy asked.

"Prude is what the Dumb-dumb is, someone who never has fun, a prune is something you take if you're constipated," Amber explained. 

"Oh." 

"I'm sure Dumb-dumb means well, but it doesn't mean you have to get stuck on him," Amber said.

"Okay Jeremy," Richie turned the pad over for Jeremy to see, "now I want you to copy these letters in your own writing, underneath the ones I just wrote, okay?"

"Okay daddy," Jeremy replied.

Jeremy picked up a pencil and sat down with the pad on his lap and started writing. While he did that, Richie moved over next to Amber.

"He's showing real improvement," Richie said.

"I know, the trouble will be when we have to teach him grammar, I know how to describe nouns and verbs, and a few adjectives, but that's about it."

"I've heard your adjectives, you keep those to yourself," Richie told her.

"Well…maybe Methos would be able to help him there, he's been a teacher before."

"He has?" Richie asked.

"Of course, he never told you?"

"No." 

"Well anyway, a guy as smart as he is would have to know about all that fancy stuff," Amber said.

"You think he'd want to come and see us in Belize?" Richie asked. 

"Sure he would…it's Mac and Amanda who won't have anything to do with us," Amber said.

"Amber…" 

"I'm sorry Richie, I know you don't want me to talk about them like that, but it's true," Amber said, "if they would they'd be more supportive of our decision."

Richie and Amber had decided to leave tonight before midnight, Jeanessa Wilcox still insisted on getting Jeremy and had finally gotten her court order drawn up, and she was going to come first thing in the morning and get him.

Amanda and Duncan entered the living room, no one saying anything for a while, finally Amanda broke the silence, "So…you guys ready to leave tonight?"

"Yeah, we basically got everything packed up," Richie said.

"Are you sure you don't want to reconsider this?" Amanda asked.

"There's nothing to reconsider, we'll have to leave," Amber replied.

"I'm done!" Jeremy announced as he showed off his printing for everyone to see.

"Hey Jeremy, come here kid."

Richie picked Jeremy up and congratulated him on his handwriting, Amber went over to Amanda, "Is dinner ready yet?"

"Yes."

"Allright, come on boys, the slop's being served," Amber said.

"Put me down daddy!" Jeremy said as he kicked Richie repeatedly.

"Okay pal, don't get lost."

Everyone headed into the kitchen until it was just Duncan and Jeremy left in the living room, Jeremy walked over to Duncan and said, "Grandpa?"

Duncan was a bit shocked about this, but he remained his usual self, "Yes?"

Jeremy stepped on Duncan's toes and put his arms around his legs, gripping tightly for a few seconds before letting go.

"What was that for?" Duncan asked.

"Don't tell anyone," Jeremy whispered, "Mommy says we're leaving tonight and we're never coming back, she also said to daddy that nobody would come see us, I'm supposed to hate you."

Jeremy ran past Duncan and headed into the kitchen, Duncan was stunned by what he'd heard, but he quickly followed behind.

"So Methos, what's for dinner?" Amber asked.

"Baked chicken, asparagus, mashed potatoes, avocado, peeled carrots, bread rolls, garlic, Spanish olives, oysters, pineapple chunks, peeled strawberries, and as for something new worth trying, French-fried bananas."

Richie and Amber looked at each other, "What do you think?" Richie asked.

"The chicken, potatoes, rolls and olives sound fine to me, but with all those supposed aphrodisiacs in between, what do you think is going through the chef's mind?" Amber asked.

"Allright, look," Amanda said, "this is our last meal together, so let's try to enjoy it."

"Fine."

Just as they had finished dinner, the phone rang, Methos got up to answer it and he took it over to Richie, "someone who wants to have a word with you."

Richie took the phone, "Hello?"

"Richie."

"Tina?"

"Are you guys still there?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Get to the alcove, quick!"

"Is something wrong?"

"Just do it!"

The phone clicked on the other end, Richie was a bit surprised by the conversation.

"What was it?" Amanda asked.

"Tina wants us to come down to the alcove," Richie said, "she wouldn't say why, and she hung up before I could ask."

Richie parked his car down the street from the campus again, all the kids were there again. They all seemed to be waiting for something, so he and Amber and Jeremy all got out of the car and went up to see what all the commotion was about.

Everyone seemed to freeze as they saw them come to the alcove, they'd been waiting for them to arrive.

"What's going on?" Richie asked, "What're you guys doing here?"

"We all got together to see you guys tonight before you left," Tina said.

"Yeah, first of all, we all got together and got you a going away gift," Mizz said.

"Really we don't want…"

"Don't go jumping the gun just yet pal," Mizz handed Richie an envelope, "first have a look and tell us if you like."

Richie opened the envelope, it was filled with cash, he wasted little time in counting it.

"Thirty-five thousand dollars," he said, more than shocked by it.

"Yeah, this way you won't have to worry so much about affording a place to stay," Mizz replied, "you know, we've heard of some of them real fancy hotels and vacation houses that charge like…a grand a week, and maybe you and your girl could find a real nice place to stay for a while and…"

"Eh!" Amber cleared her throat, "there's a kid present."

Some of the guys laughed it off, "Anyway, since odds are we won't be seeing you again…at least not on this side of the country…we want you guys to know it's been great," Eddie said.

"Thanks," Amber said, "it has been great."

Richie and Amber turned to leave when they got an idea, "You know guys, seeing as how we won't be coming back, and this is our last night together, and we've got some unfinished business regarding some people who work at this college…" Richie said, "what do you say before we leave, we go crazy and make their lives a living hell?"

"Sounds good to me," Amber said, "we got all these teachers who are by far, the biggest pains in the ass on this side of town, and Dean Richards, ha! I'd like to put his head in a vice and squeeze and squeeze until his head exploded…I say we make this night a memorable one allright. There's going to be bonfires and guns and vandalism and armpits hanging from trees…the night's young and they're our prey so let's give the bastards the night of their lives!"

It was a night to remember allright, they tore up the campus grounds, spray painted graffiti all over the college, started a bonfire on the football field, then they went to the home address of the dean, they stripped his car and turned over what was left of if. They threw eggs at his house and spray painted it as well, aside from soaping some windows and painting the rest of them black. Then they went to all the houses of the other teachers, and did the same thing to their homes as well.

No calls were made to the police station because these were older teachers who were still set in their ways about technology, meaning the only phones they had were useless after the phone wires had been cut. An anonymous call went to the fire department regarding the fire at the college, little damage from the fire had been done anywhere else, and nobody bothered to look into what started it in the first place, so it was quickly forgotten.

It was now 11:00 at night, and Richie and Amber still hadn't returned. "I can't believe we let them go out like that," Duncan said.

"What did you think we should've done?" Amanda asked, "Sent out a SWAT team to follow them?"

"No, but I can't believe what's going on," Duncan said.

"Duncan, we'll be right behind them come tomorrow morning," Amanda told him, "try not to worry too much."

Connor made his way into the living room and sat down on the couch beside Amanda, "How's it going?"

"Fine, and you?" Amanda asked.

"I guess."

The phone rang, Methos answered it from the kitchen.

"I can't believe it's come down to this," Connor said.

"I know…I just wish there was more time," Amanda replied.

Methos came into the living room looking a bit panicked.

"Methos, what's wrong?" Amanda asked.

"That was the police calling, it seems that they've caught three teenagers passing from here up to Jacksonville, and I do believe you know what's right beyond that."

By the time they arrived at Jacksonville and just off from where the road led out of Florida and up to Georgia, they saw that it was far more than three teenagers who had passed through. The entire student body from the university was there. Most of them were harassing the police seeing as how they had them outnumbered. Some of them trapped the cops in their cars, others circled the cops on their bikes, taunting them.

"What is this?" Amanda asked.

"Hell on earth!" Methos replied.

"What's going on here?" Connor asked.

Looking ahead a bit, they saw what they were really doing. All these kids were distracting the cops, to keep them from getting to Richie and Amber. Richie was in his car with Jeremy right beside him, and Amber was on Richie's bike. Richie had gotten through the police with little trouble, he drove away a few blocks, then the car swerved around while he waited on Amber. She was having a bit more trouble seeing as how the cops could get to her easier than they probably could Richie, but she saw her opportunity. She turned the bike around and rode back a while, then she turned around again, she drove the bike up a slanted scaffold, leading up a 'ramp' of some old flat pipe metal that led up to the top of a sixth floor building.

If she could build up enough speed she could drive off the roof, get past the cops, and the crash wouldn't be too far off from where Richie was. It seemed suicidal, but it was her only chance at the moment. She rode around on the roof, building up speed, looking down, she saw everyone looking at her, all their friends, all the policemen, she didn't even stop when she saw Duncan and Amanda and Methos and Connor watching her. As she turned on the roof towards the other side, she saw Richie and Jeremy looking at her, no one quite knowing what to do. She sped up again, with no intention of slowing down, or stopping for that matter, as she circled the roof again, the faces just continued to stare at her. To her, they seemed like lifeless eyes in masks of horror, just waiting for her to crash, and when she did…

"What the hell am I doing?" she asked herself.

She turned on the roof once more and just when it seemed she was going to go through with the jump, there was a frightening silence. Everyone's eyes locked on her, no one knew what had happened. Amber had just stopped the bike, went over to the edge of the building, and jumped down, managing to grab onto the sign of the building on the second floor, it helped ease her fall as she took it from there and jumped down, landing on her feet.

Everyone looked around at each other, wandering what to make of it. Amber stole a bullhorn from one of the officers and spoke, "Allright everyone, that's it, the show's over there's nothing more to see here…Richie, come on back, we're going to stay here and we're going to fight, but we're going to do it in court. And as for everyone who came with us tonight…sorry for all the trouble tonight, you'll all get your money back…and maybe we'll be able to keep a shred of our lives in tact."

Richie drove back and stopped his car just inches away from one officer, he and Jeremy got out of the car and went over to her.

"Amber are you allright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she replied, "I'm not about to kill myself in front of my baby. Richie, it ain't worth it, we're going to stay here in the country, and we're going to fight, but we're going to do it right…there are some legal matters that might prove helpful to us and we're going to find out what they are."

"Mommy!" Jeremy jumped up and hugged Amber tightly.

"It's good to see you, little man," Amber said.

"There they are!" they heard.

The older Immortals came running their way, and they practically choked Richie and Amber when they got to them.

"Amber, what the hell were you thinking?" Duncan asked.

"Hey Mac, I did it before, I figured I could do it again," she said.

"You had us worried sick," Amanda told her.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Good!"

"Amber, are you crazy?" Duncan asked.

"You know Mac, I really don't think I would've stopped, if it weren't for our boy," Amber explained.

"Mommy, were you really going to drive off the roof?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes I was, and it was a stupid thing to consider, even stupider to try and do, and DON'T you take any lessons from me on that, got it?" Amber asked.

"Yes."

"Allright."

Amber felt a pair of arms behind her grab her, the next thing she knew, she was looking up at Methos.

"Are you allright, kid?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

Methos slapped Amber in the back of the head, "You scared the hell out of me."

"You scared all of us, what were you thinking?" Duncan asked.

"I don't see why it matters since I didn't go through with it," Amber said.

They got home and the kids went up to bed, Jeremy stayed with Richie all night, they stayed in Richie's room, while Amber stayed in Methos' room. He hadn't said anything in front of her, but early in the morning when she was going in and out of sleep, she heard him talking to Amanda out in the hallway. Whatever their legal rights were, they wouldn't be able to even try to take Jeanessa to court until Jeremy was 13. She was going to come by and get him today, but on a plus side, they had an Immortal friend working with the social services so he could make many unexpected drop-ins to see how she'd take care of Jeremy.

Amber wanted to die more than anything, she felt like she'd just had the rug jerked out from under her. She was starting to regret turning back, why didn't she just go through with the jump? At least by now they'd be out of Florida, away from Wilcox. And if she felt this bad, she couldn't imagine how Richie must feel if he heard them too. Methos finished talking to Amanda and went back into the bedroom and over to Amber, "You heard us?"

Amber nodded.

"She's pulling in the driveway…Jeremy's all packed up, he's about to find out he's going," Methos said, "do you want to see him off?"

Amber shook her head.

"Do you just want us to send him in here?" Methos asked.

Amber nodded. Methos left the room, Amber got up and started making the bed when Jeremy came in, "Mommy?"

"Yes Jeremy?" she turned to face him.

"Daddy says that there's a lady here to take me to live with her," Jeremy said.

"That's right," Amber said.

"Is she going to bring me back?" Jeremy asked.

"No…but don't worry…it's going to take a while but we're going to get you back…unfortunately for that, you'll have to live with the other woman for quite a while."

"How long?" Jeremy asked.

"Seven years," Amber said.

"Seven years!" Jeremy repeated, "I'm only six! I'll be 13 before I get to see you again!"

Amber laughed pitifully, "You're finally getting math I see…well we don't know that for sure Jeremy, when you're 13 we're going to see about getting you to come back and live with us, but we're going to see about visiting you before then. Look, your daddy and I have a lot of work to do if we're going to get you back…so what we need you to do right now is just hang in there, and get ready for your new home."

Jeremy hugged Amber's legs tightly, "I love you Mommy."

"I love you too," she replied.

"Mommy, are you going to stay in this house?" Jeremy asked.

"I guess I am, why?" Amber asked.

"Cuz since I'm learning to write, I can write you and daddy while I'm away and tell you how it is," Jeremy said.

"Smart boy," Amber took a notepad and scribbled down the address and handed it to Jeremy, "now you get going, you don't want to keep your new mommy waiting."

"I don't care," Jeremy said as he headed out into the hall, "Even though she's going to let me live with her, and she's going to be taking care of me, there's no way I'm calling her mommy…an' I don't care if there's a man there, cuz I'm never calling him daddy if there is."

"Well that's your choice," she told him.

Jeremy headed down the stairs and Richie took him out the front door. Amber didn't watch them leave, she turned back around and headed to the bedroom again. Methos was coming up the stairs as she headed back in and shut the door. Methos went in after her, and she was in bed again.

"Are you allright?" he asked.

"Richie and I just lost the only chance we'll have at being parents, no, I'm not allright," she replied.

Methos made his way over to the bed and slipped in beside her, "It's not forever, Amber…just seven years…it'll be over before you know it."

"Yeah but it won't be soon enough," Amber said.

Methos tried to think of something to say, something to comfort her. She buried her face in the pillow and cried, "She took him, our baby is gone."

Methos said nothing, it would be no use trying to talk to her right now…she'd have to calm down before he could explain what had happened.

After Jeremy had left, Richie went into the kitchen and sat down at the table, now it was five hours later and he was still in the same spot, Duncan and Amanda were discussing what to do with him.

"Well go in there," Amanda said.

"What do I say?" Duncan asked.

"Well talk to him, ask him how he's doing," Amanda told him.

"Don't push, I'm going."

Duncan headed into the kitchen acting very casually and sat down beside Richie, "How're you doing, Richie?"

"Fine Mac," Richie replied quietly.

Duncan tried to think of a way to get them talking, "Uh…you might consider sleeping alone tonight, Amber's…very upset by this and, well she's with Methos, he's trying to calm her down but he's not having much luck…"

"Allright…"

Duncan felt he was getting nowhere fast.

"Mac," Richie said suddenly, "I don't get it, I could've taken care of him, he would've been safe here…"

"I know."

"So why did this have to happen? Why now? Why when he just found someone who wanted him?" Richie asked.

"Maybe it just wasn't time," Duncan suggested, "Maybe…maybe this was just a chance for you to really know him and one of these days…maybe then you'll be able to keep him."

"Mac…why're you saying that? You wouldn't have wanted him here."

"That's not true, I wanted him here, I just wanted to make sure that he could be safe regardless of who he was living with," Duncan said.

"And you think we can trust this woman?" Richie asked.

"Richie, I've known her since she was 11 years old…besides, she lives on Holy Ground so he'd be safe with her…" Duncan said.

"But it's not fair that he had to leave," Richie said, "Mac…"

"I know…believe me I know…"

Richie seemed frozen in the position he was in, he wasn't even breathing now. Duncan put his arms around Richie and held him close, "Richie, you have to breathe, you're turning purple."

Richie breathed, not enough to get much air in him but he didn't really care anymore. He gave up on trying to seem okay and broke down crying, "He's gone Mac…they took him away from me…"

Duncan had his hands full with Richie, and Methos with Amber, for days both kids were a complete mess. Richie kept begging Mac to do something to temporarily put him out of his misery, and Amber became depressed to the point where she didn't want to get out of bed. It was enough to about drive the older Immortals crazy. They spent most of their time with the kids where they were, Duncan and Methos saw each other a couple of times each day if they were lucky, only to compare how big a mess the kids were. Richie wanted to see Amber, but they advised him it wouldn't be a good idea for a few days, considering how upset she still was. They figured it'd be safer because she was still throwing things at Methos when he tried to talk to her. Within a few days, Richie crept upstairs early one morning and went over to Methos' bedroom to see how she was doing.

Amber had gotten sick and tired of Methos trying to comfort her, and support her and encourage her to get out of bed, so when the door opened she did the first thing that came to mind. She threw her boot at the door.

"Whoa, not a bad shot," Richie said, "if you work on your timing a bit, next time you might actually get me."

"Richie," Amber sat as she sat up in bed, "What're you doing here?"

"Well I wanted to see you, I was wondering how you were doing," Richie said.

"Evidently not as well as you," Amber replied.

"Amber, I want to talk to you about Jeremy," Richie said.

Amber hit Richie in the jaw and rolled over in bed again, "Richie, I went through all this with Methos already, I don't feel like playing psychological therapy and expressing how I feel."

"Amber," Richie said as he felt his bottom jaw, "you didn't even give me a chance to explain. Jeanessa didn't come and take Jeremy."

"She didn't?" Amber asked.

"No, the police found out that she had planned to have her husband bumped off and she's now serving 42 years in prison, whereas the hit man she hired is serving life…the woman who came for Jeremy is a friend of Mac's, Michelle Webster, she's about my age, Amanda trained her, she lives on Holy Ground in this place in Georgia…"

"She lives in a church?" Amber asked.

"Not really, it's this place where Immortals come if they need to relax, unwind, get away from it all, that stuff," Richie said.

"A hotel on Holy Ground?" Amber asked.

"Not exactly, more like an Immortal bed and breakfast," Richie replied.

"Oh."

"Anyway, she knows some people out there who could take care of all the legal arrangements so he'd legally be living with her for the next seven years…then by the time he's thirteen, she's going to bring him back here for us to take him."

"Well that's good…I guess…if she's a friend of Mac's…well maybe she's an allright person," Amber said.

"It was Connor's idea to call her in for this…he told Mac and he wanted us to think it was Mac's idea because he didn't think we'd go for it if we knew he thought of it," Richie explained.

"I don't like the way it's turned out I don't care who thought of it," Amber replied, "Look Richie…I know that you thought of Jeremy as your own before anything else, so I should be trying to comfort you through this…but it just feels to me like I've been thrown at a brick wall…"

Richie nodded, "I know…but we'll get through this…"

"I suppose we should be thankful broken heart can't kill us," Amber said, "otherwise I think we'd both be pushing up orchids right now."

"Amber, I wanted to ask you something," Richie said.

"What is it?" Amber asked.

"I know that at this time, it probably seems like adding salt to the wounds, or whatever…and I know that we can't have kids so what I'm about to ask wouldn't really do much good as far as parenthood goes but…I've known you for over seven years now, and I have to say it's been pretty interesting…it was especially great after we moved in together…I liked being right with you all the time, you know?"

"I guess, but where is this going?" Amber asked.

"Well anyway, I've enjoyed your company for a while now, and I figure if we can stand being around each other like this…well I wanted to ask you…"

Richie reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box, opening it to reveal a ring inside.

"Amber…" Richie swallowed hard afterwards, as if he were trying to keep from throwing up, "W-Would you marry me?"

"What'd she say?" Methos asked.

"She didn't say anything…for a while I expected her to start yelling at me, asking me all the typical questions, 'is this some kind of a sick joke?' 'How could you do such a thing?'"

"You and what army?" Methos added.

"She just sat there and said nothing, after a while she got up and headed into the bathroom and locked herself in…I don't know what I'm doing," Richie said, "why did I even ask her?"

"Probably because the two of you are better off than you and any floozy you'll ever come across," Methos said, "it's something you have between the two of you…some kind of chemistry I suppose…you're practically perfect for each other yet marriage seems like an odd concept to add to it."

"So what're you saying?" Richie asked.

"Maybe she doesn't know whether or not she wants to marry you…I don't know…maybe she doesn't want to get married, maybe she'd rather the two of you stay roommates the rest of your lives…at least when you're roommates the bedroom is the only thing you divide, in marriage you live with half of what you have and the wife has the other half…I don't know…do you want me to talk to her?" Methos asked.

"Go ahead, but I don't know what good it would do."

"He asked you to marry him?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah," Amber replied, less than enthusiastic.

"YIIIIPPPPPEEEE!" Amanda exclaimed.

"You think this is good news?" Amber asked.

"You don't?" Amanda asked.

"I didn't answer him…I didn't say anything, I can't say anything to him," Amber said.

"Why not? I think you would make a cute couple," Amanda said.

"That's one problem right there, I may be a lot of things, Amanda, but damn it, cute is not one of them. Besides, do you really think Duncan would approve of us being married? Besides, it's not even legal, I'm only 17."

"So, you never heard of a long engagement?" Amanda asked, "Come on Amber, why shouldn't you marry him? He's a great guy, he likes you, he listens to you…"

"And he's probably the only man I'll ever meet who understands why I don't want to have sex," Amber added.

"See?" Amanda asked, "There's another good point."

"But Amanda…I can't marry Richie…I don't see that working for us…Richie is a guy who I'll be roommates with, who I will share the same bed with…hell he's a guy I will shower with, but I won't marry him."

"Why not? You're doing all that other stuff already, you might as well get something out of it," Amanda said, "besides, haven't you two been 'together' in that way yet?"

"If you mean are we in love, no, if you're asking if there even used to be a shred of love between us…I guess I'd have to say yes, we used to but that quickly faded," Amber said.

"Amber, why're you telling me this? You should be telling Richie, he's the one who asked you," Amanda said.

"I just don't see why you would want to marry me," Amber said, "let's face it, I'm not easy to get along with, I can be a real bitch when I want to be…besides…you know I would never want to sleep with you…what kind of a wife is that?" Amber asked.

"Sounds like every typical wife to me," Richie replied, "I mean once you get past the age of 50."

"What could you possibly get out of marrying me?" Amber asked.

"I don't want to lose you," Richie said.

"I haven't gone anywhere," Amber said.

"Not yet but I'm worried you will one day and I won't be able to find you…you did before, after what happened last time I don't want that to happen again," Richie said.

"I can understand that, but marriage isn't going to solve that…marriage is a trap, it brings out the worst in everybody," Amber said, "give Mac and Amanda a few decades, and they'll be at each other's throats."

"Allright, I'm sorry…just forget I said anything," Richie said.

"Richie…I like you, I like being with you, and I'll admit I don't mind too much bathing with you…but I don't want to be your wife," Amber said.

"I understand," Richie said, "it's just…we were both upset when Jeremy left, I thought if we were together, we'd at least have someone we could both depend on," Richie said.

"We already do…we got each other here and now, we're both alive and we're still here, and I don't see what's wrong with that…now look Richie…we'll go back to school, we'll get on with our lives, who knows? In seven years we may even be parents again….ask me to marry you again in half a century and let's see what happens, allright?" Amber asked.

"Allright…"

"So what now?" Amber asked.

"I don't know…"

There was a long silence between them, neither of them even looking at one another.

"Well you know Richie, I've spent about a week in bed and I'm about to go crazy," Amber said, "What say we call up some of our friends and find out if the dean's still alive, or if we need to do a repeat performance?"

Richie thought about it for a minute, then decided, "Eh, why not? We've got seven years until we've got to be parents again, I think we might as well enjoy the time we got until then."


End file.
